Crossword Genius

Eccentric female abandons baby cow, perhaps (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

ruminant

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'cow perhaps' is the definition.
(cow is a kind of ruminant)

'eccentric female abandons baby' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'eccentric' could be 'rum' (both can mean 'strange') and 'rum' is found in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for ruminant that I've seen before include "Cud-chewing animal" , "Animal chewing cud" , "Beast that chews the cud" , "contemplating" , "Cud chewing mammal" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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