Michigan Couple Narrowly Escapes Falling Cow

[Ivan Seeking]

Cow falls on tourists' minivan MANSON, Wash. - A Michigan couple is lucky to be alive after their minivan was hit by a falling cow on Sunday.[continued]

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_110605WAB_falling_cow_hits_minivan_JM.1e34a65e4.html

 

[neutrino]

And I thought they had deorbited her...
http://www.teachersandfamilies.com/nursery/Hey%20Diddle%20Diddle/The%20cow%20jumped%20over%20the%20moon.jpg

On a more serious note, I'm sorry for Rena and her family. :(

 

[Evo]

Albertson, the owner of the cow, said the animal was named Michelle and the family had raised her from a calf.

"She was a long way from home, lost and scared," said Rena Albertson.

 

[hypatia]

Poor Michelle

 

[Moonbear]

Aside from the suicidal cow, what struck me most about this story is that it's listed as a "Top Story" on that page. I'm guessing it must be a REALLY slow news day if that is their top story.

 

[Astronuc]

Anderson said after weeks of attempting to contain Michelle, the breeder was right behind her on a four-wheeled ATV, but an hour later she was dead.

So she was scared, ran from the guy on the ATV and then over a cliff? Very sad story.

It beat out "Woman arrested after she bites off ex-boyfriend's lip"

and "Reports of rat mites on the rise"!

 

[Evo]

Why wasn't there a fence on that cliff??

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Why wasn't there a fence on that cliff??

This is the great [mostly wild] Northwest. There is no way to make every cliff safe.

MB, I suspect that every day in Manson, Washington, is a slow news day!

 

[Zenparticle]

So she was scared, ran from the guy on the ATV and then over a cliff? Very sad story.

It beat out "Woman arrested after she bites off ex-boyfriend's lip"

and "Reports of rat mites on the rise"!

I was thinking the same thing, why on Earth would you chase the poor thing with an atv?

 

[Moonbear]

I was thinking the same thing, why on Earth would you chase the poor thing with an atv?

That's how you herd cattle out in large pastures. It's a bit old-fashioned to round them up on horses...this is the 21st century, not the "old" west. It's a bit odd that the cow jumped over a cliff edge rather than running back the other way. Cattle usually won't even cross a small ditch (this is why cattle grates are effective...put a small grate over a small ditch between a pasture and a road and cattle won't cross where cars can still get in on the road). There was either something wrong with this cow that it didn't have the sense to stop at a cliff edge, or it was really severely spooked beyond what rounding it up on an ATV would normally accomplish.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Is it normal for a fully grown cow to wander off and get lost?

 

[Moonbear]

Is it normal for a fully grown cow to wander off and get lost?

Not sure if the cow thought she was lost as long as there was pasture to keep munching on.

 

[Huckleberry]

Is it normal for a fully grown cow to wander off and get lost?

I almost always see cows on open range in groups. I do remember one time a cow wandered onto my uncles property in Arizona through a low point in the fence near some rough terrain. I didn't see any herd, but I'm guessing that they walked away and left this cow trapped behind the fence. It took me about 20 minutes to find the area it entered. It was full of thorn bushes, mesquite and rocky crevices, and on the other side of the fence was a small cliff.

We opened the gate and it was pretty easy to chase the cow out of it. It probably caught up with the other cows at some watering hole. They never wander too far from a place where they can get water, or so I'm told.

People use anything from dogs and horses to ATVs and motorbikes to herd cattle. I've heard some large ranches use helicopters.

 

[rewebster]

"HEY--you, YEAH, YOU, up there on the cliff----I said MEDIUM RARE---MEDIUM RARE--"