Baby Cow Falls Down 16' Well, Gets Stuck for Hours. Mama Cow Waits for His Rescue
Animal rescues are my personal favorite kinds of stories to read about. Whether it’s a dog, cat, or cow, I’m all for a rescue story with a happy ending.
Speaking of cows, a black calf fell into a 16-foot well on Jan. 15 in the afternoon.
The not-so-little guy was standing in about 4 feet of water for several hours before the local rescue teams were alerted and able to get to him.
It was about 4 p.m. when the crews finally got to him and started the extensive process of retrieving him from the well.
He weighed about 350 pounds, so getting him out of there was not an easy task. They couldn’t just throw in a ladder and send someone down to haul him out.
They used something called “rescue webbing,” which appears to be some kind of strong nylon rope. The calf remained mostly calm throughout his ordeal, with the occasional unhappy toss of his head.
Capt. Lou Stoerzinger of the Two Rock Volunteer Fire Department said, “He was tired and cold, but he wasn’t thrashing around and he wasn’t in a huge amount of distress.”
It would have been significantly more difficult to get this big boy out of there if he had been fighting back, kicking and thrashing.
From there, they used a bucket loader to create a high point, tossed ropes around it, and used it as a makeshift pulley system.
Mom waited nearby to make sure they were doing everything correctly and didn’t hurt her baby in the process.
The whole rescue lasted about an hour. Once they were finally able to lift him free, he was eager to get back to mom.
Despite his ordeal in the well, the calf was in surprisingly good condition. For falling 16 feet at 350 pounds, I can’t imagine that was a pleasant landing.
“He was a little cold. Probably worn out. Just needed a good meal and a night to rest and he’ll be fine,” Stoerzinger said. “He took off with his mom and was moving through the field pretty well.”
But just how did this big guy get in there the first place? Was the well not covered at all?
Turns out, the wood cover was so old and worn that 350 pounds of cow wandering on top of it was its last straw.
We’re thankful this rescue had a happy ending, and that this “little” calf could get back to his mom safe and sound.
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