Carissa Marsh’s article (“Mighty mascot makes stop in Simi,” Jan. 8) about Bevo XIV was good, showing how he had come so far. But he is not a cow. Cows are female. He is a steer, or castrated bull.

This short operation will keep him docile and well-behaved.

I thought him a very handsome steer.
Patricia Mosley
Simi Valley

*Editor’s Note: Webster’s New World College Dictionary says in modern usage a cow can mean “a domestic bovine animal, whether a steer, bull, cow or calf.”