Charente’s first cowpat lottery

A HISTORIC first “cowpat lottery” was held in the Charente at the weekend.

While popular in the east of France, the Loto Bouse held in Roumazières on Saturday was the first for the department and was a fundraiser for a local football club, En avant Charente-Est.

The game involves marking out a field with a numbered grid and then letting cows loose in it. The box in which the first cow leaves a pat is the winning one.

At Roumazières the playing space was 50m by 50m, divided into 2,444 boxes.

Some 300 people watched the game. One spectator, from Nice, told Charente Libre: “You don’t often see so many people all staring at cows’ backsides.”

Another said: “It’s good to innovate and be audacious, good for the club and for the town.”

Four prizes were up for grabs, including a holiday and a TV. The club sold more than 900 tickets at €5 each.

A sworn legal officer was on hand to rule on which square contained the most pat in case of doubt.

Loto Bouse started in the Jura and has also taken off in Brittany.

Photo: Janus Pockele/ www.flickr.com