This is the hilarious MOO-ment a team of firefighters had to be called to rescue a cow with its head trapped – in a TREE.
The confused animal was spotted firmly wedged inside the birch in the middle of a field in Monkmoor, Shops., at 12.30pm on Monday.
It took a team of six firefighters from Shropshire Fire and Rescue an hour-and-a-half to free the young bullock.
Pictures taken at the scene show the team of firemen gathering around the hapless cow with specialist animal rescue equipment.
After being winched up and released from the tree, the animal was said to be “bemused but uninjured” before it was reunited with it’s herd in a nearby field.
Neil Grove, Shrewsbury station manager for Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “It was a very strange incident indeed.
“What he was looking for, I don’t know and we don’t know how long he was in there.
“Manual lifting didn’t work because of the way his head was trapped.
“It’s normal to cover animals’ heads during rescues to keep them in the dark for as long as possible – because this helps them to stay calm.
“But on this occasion, with the cow’s head in the tree it was not really necessary.
“His head was in the bottom of the tree which was quite dark.
“He was relatively calm while we were there.
“The cow ran off once we got him out – he didn’t stay around to thank us.
“He was bemused but appeared uninjured.”
A spokesperson for Shropshire Fire and Rescue, added: “A call was received by our fire control room at 12:22pm to an incident involving a cow with its head trapped in a hole in a tree.
“An appliance from Shrewsbury was mobilised, with the rescue tender and another supporting appliance from Wellington also mobilised.
“The rescue tender is now carrying recently acquired specialist large animal rescue equipment which the firefighters from Wellington have all been trained on.
“On arrival the officer in charge assessed the situation and attempts were made initially to release the animal using strops and various equipment from the Shrewsbury appliance.
“These attempts proved unsuccessful, so a specialist large animal harness, with a quick release mechanism, was used in conjunction with the Hiab crane on the rescue tender.
“The cow was successfully lifted up and released from the tree.”
One onlooker, who watched the rescue operation, said: “I felt really sorry for the poor cow – but it looked hilarious.
“We were concerned for its safety but when they freed it uninjured, everybody had a good old laugh about it.
“You hear of firefighters rescuing cats from trees – but not cows.”
