A herd of cows were spooked by a new pink-coloured road and suddenly turned tail, rushed into a garden leaving one trapped in a deep ditch. The incident in Mells, near Frome, Somerset, resulted in a frantic effort to rescue the heifer from where it was tightly wedged in the narrow 15 foot deep ditch at the side of the village post office.
The cow belonged to farmer Robert Wells who was herding the cows down when it became spooked and rushed into the front garden of a house next to the post office. He said he believed it was because the road had been resurfaced pink and this confused the cows. The disorientated cow fell in to the ditch after trying to rejoin the herd over the low roof of the post office which abuts the neighbouring house's garden.
YouTube link.
A fork-lift vehicle, straps and winches were used to lift the cow. Local vet Peter Edmondson was on hand as two farmers went down with the cow to strap her up for a lift out of her predicament. She was then carefully loaded in to a cattle box. Despite a few cuts and bruises vet Mr Edmondson confirmed: "The heifer was up and walked out of the box by the time the farmer got home. She is up and eating but a bit stiff."
Mr Wells added that the route the cows were taken was a regular one for the herd. "They've passed there many times before," he said. "Of all things it was a change in colour of road that spooked them. The herd ran off then turned around on a house driveway but one decided to take a short cut over the post office roof and then fell in to the ditch. We got her out under sedation and she was none the worse for wear - so it's a case of all's well that end's well."
6 comments:
Do cows see in greyscale like dogs? Does a pink road look different (like a river or something?)
Cattle are red/green colour blind so I imagine if the pink was a strong enough contrast then it could have spooked a few. But, as with cattle, when on freaks out so do the rest.
Did anyone else get a chuckle towards the end of the video when the man brought out a plate of sandwiches along with a tea kettle. That couldn't get anymore stereotypical of an English country town, haha.
... but did you hear what the farmer said? It was, "is it beef then?" (it was bacon!) - I was there & took the video :) See the story here http://bit.ly/cowstory & more pics here http://bit.ly/Mellscow - PS. the road wasn't pink, it was something flapping around.....
Thanks for that Katy!
@Katy, I know the Telegraph have been known to tell the occasional untruth, but why would they quote the farmer as saying "Of all things it was a change in colour of road that spooked them." if he didn't say that?
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