Step Aside, Miss Cleo

We've been following the meteoric rise to fame of Yvonne the Cow from the very beginning, including her movie deal. Now she has been entrusted with the important task of predicting the results of Euro 2012 games:

Yvonne the runaway cow has made an unpopular start to her career as successor to Paul the psychic octopus by predicting that Germany will lose to Portugal on Saturday night.

Germany has been in mourning since the demise in 2010 of Paul, who became an international star two years ago after successfully predicting the outcomes of World Cup games, and a Bavarian radio station has decided to turn to Yvonne for guidance.

Unfortunately for Yvonne, though nice for the Germans, Portugal ended up losing the match which took place last Saturday. There are really only two explanations: either Yvonne isn't psychic or Germany, fearful of her predictive prowess, cheated in order win the match. I'll let you guess what I think.

Yvonne is Headed to the Big Screen

Who can forget Yvonne, the brilliant bovine who just last year daringly and cleverly escaped slaughter, evaded capture, and charmed her way to permanent safety at the Gut Aiderbichl animal sanctuary? I certainly couldn't, and children everywhere won't be able to either, once Yvonne's movie hits theaters:

Now the tale of the runaway cow, who captivated the nation last year when she bolted from her farm to escape slaughter and roamed free in the Bavarian countryside for three months, will provide fodder for a Hollywood animated film.

Cow On The Run, based on the daring dairy cow's escapades in the wild, will be produced by Munich-based film company Papa Loewe and American film producer Max Howard, whose previous credits include Walt Disney's The Lion King.

Cow News

I am a little late in sharing this, but it warrants mention all the same:

The search for Yvonne, the six-year-old cow that dashed to freedom just before she was to be transported to a slaughterhouse in southern Germany, has been called off. The cow has become a star, drawing international attention to Zangberg, the Bavarian commune where she made her escape.

Yvonne has been at large since May 24. But she made headlines in late July, when she ran across a highway and nearly collided with a police car. That led authorities to deem her a threat — and they issued a call for hunters to shoot the cow on sight.

That order was later suspended, partly due to a public outpouring of support for Yvonne. But Monday, the local government made the suspension permanent — and forbade anyone to hunt her with deadly force.

I am glad they found her and delighted that the police came to their senses. It would be a shame to have executed this brilliant creature (which activists have called "as nimble as a weasel" in alluding capture). I encourage you to read the rest of Yvonne's amazing story.