Cowing the Computer

The National Weather Service uses all the ingenuity of science to forecast sun or rain including satellite pictures of storm patterns and complex computer printouts. On the other hand, a three-year-old 1,400-lb. cow named Bramer trusts more to instinct. When she senses that bad weather is coming the next day, she beds down in her straw-lined stall in Huntsville, Texas. When some thing tells her that a sunny day is due on the morrow, she ventures forth to graze, even if the weather at that moment is drizzly.

Noting his cow's peculiar talents, Farmer John McAdams decided to match Bramer's predictions against those of the Houston Weather Service, which he felt rarely knew when to come in out of the rain. The Huntsville Item, a thrice-weekly newspaper, agreed to serve as scorekeeper. For every correct prediction, cow and computer receive one point. For every mistake, each is docked a point.

So far, it has been no contest. With the competition set to run until March 28, Bramer last week held a 19-to-8 lead over the computer. "It's just the instinct for protection," McAdams explained.

"Animals aren't so dumb as people make them out to be. They just can't talk. And if you watch them closely enough, they do sort of talk."

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