Sir, I read with interest your article on cow tipping, a pastime I greatly enjoyed in my graduate school days at the University of Wyoming (report, November 5). However, I must take issue with the conclusions on the subject reached by Dr Margo Lillie of the University of British Columbia.

Cow tipping is possible, it is very simple and I’ve done it. It requires three people (note: be very quiet, but sobriety may be a hindrance), one person on one side of the cow, two on the other. The lone person pushes very hard on his side, and waiting for the balancing response from the startled animal, the other two then push very hard on their side to overbalance her. Works like a charm.

DR DONALD B. MACGOWAN
Kailua Kona, Hawaii

Sir, While I applaud the researchers at the University of British Columbia for using science to distinguish whether or not cow tipping is possible, I hope The Times’s decision to publish this research does not lead to more people trying to verify the crime experimentally.

It should be noted that, whereas it is almost certainly impossible for one person to tip a cow by standing next to it and pushing — the scenario considered by the Canadian scientists — a better individual strategy would be to knock over the cow by throwing yourself at it in a running jump. I have calculated that an 80kg (12st 10lb) person would only need to run at the cow at about 18km/h (12mph) in order to tip it.

JAMES LOUDON
Cambridge University

Sir, I should point out a basic flaw in the analysis. The eminent scientists, who spent worthwhile time calculating forces needed against a cow’s mass to upend it, failed to factor in one essential fact: is the cow’s udder full or empty? This simple oversight will render the calculation inaccurate as the udder can contain several gallons, which can disturb and lower the animal’s centre of gravity. Due to the fluid nature of milk the udder will move, adding complication to any constant calculations.

DAVID RATCLIFFE
Welling, Kent

Sir, The Canadian research does not seem to take into account that the animal is likely to resist or move. The method indicated would require the cow’s feet to be restrained or taken from under it, in the style of a rugby tackle.

A different technique can achieve the same result with fewer people — indeed only one: our brawny Scottish vet in the 1950s could cast, or “throw’, a horned beast simply by standing before it, taking hold of the horns and twisting. But tipping? Perhaps your report would have better been saved for April 1.

BRIAN SLATER
Llangollen, Denbighshire

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