Painting A Cow

Once again, a look into history reveals things that, while obvious at the time, would not occur to us today.  Retronaut posted this photo, and an explanation of why this woman is painting this cow.  During World War II, a blackout of all lights, including car headlights, was a necessary defense tactic.  While vehicle headlights were not completely blacked out, they were severly restricted in the amount and distance of light projected on the road.  In rural Britain, you might find a cow roaming the roads at night, so the farmers painted the cow with these stripes to make them more visible to drivers during a blackout.