7/18/2005: Cow stuck in a tree

[Undertoad]

It's not a Friday image if you laugh at the dumb thing and not with it. This cow explored a hole in a nearby tree and wound up stuck there for hours.

Imagine driving down a relaxing country road, only to see a 700-pound heifer's backside sticking out of a oak tree with its head stuck inside a narrow, hollow opening.

For Milton resident and cow owner Jerry Hughes that's exactly what his neighbor Shane Davenport saw three weeks ago while driving down Milton Road.

Local veterinarian John Brunner used a complicated procedure to remove the cow -- reminds me of the James Herriot stories that facinated me as a kid:

"What I did was put a tie on her, which paralyzes the cow," he said. "I was able to push her head down a little bit. They don't move a whole lot when the hitch is around them."

He used a burley-half hitch, which has one loop of rope around the neck, another loop just behind the front legs and one more loop in front of the rear legs. Moreover, mineral oil was applied to the tree and to the cow's head to lessen the tension it would feel when a tractor pulled it out.

"Even pulling with the tractor, it wasn't going to come without toggling," Brunner said.

Finally at 10:30 p.m. — after 20 minutes of pulling — the cow's three-hour ordeal was over with only a scrape on the back of its ear and no other apparent injuries.