We sometimes see things that make us do a double-take. It could be something in our home or perhaps when we are out and about but for one person, it happened when they were checking trail cams on their property.
It all started when a baby cow disappeared from a farm in Holland, New York. That farm raised cattle for slaughter, and it seems as if the calf was concerned about her safety so she ran into the woods.
After the owner of the farm died, they sold off the cattle to another farm. Bonnie used the confusion of loading to escape into the woods but that didn’t put her out of danger, because many neighbors who knew that she was in the woods said that they would hunt her if she came on their property.
The calf was able to live there for quite some time in the wild, but they began seeing her on trail cams on the property. Bonnie, as they called her, was wandering around in the woods and was adopted by a herd of deer.
After the owner of the property began seeing Bonnie on trail cams, they recognized that it was unusual. They also recognized that they had to care for Bonnie, as she would have a difficult time surviving the winters in New York.
Becky, the woman who owns the land where Bonnie was living saw her on a regular basis with a herd of deer. They referred to her as the ‘cow of the woods’ and she was out there for about a year before they decided to give her a helping hand.
Becky knew that Bonnie’s life was in danger, either from the cold or from neighbors so she decided to find a place where the cow could stay. For a while, she provided Bonnie with food and bedding but Bonnie still did not like being around humans.
To provide the protection that she needed, Becky contacted Farm Sanctuary, an animal sanctuary located nearby in Watkins Glen. She worked alone with the national director of the sanctuary, Susie Coston and they developed a plan to capture Bonnie and transfer her to a safe location.
Since Bonnie didn’t like being around humans, it wasn’t easy but Becky was willing to work with them. They consulted with a veterinarian and gave Bonnie a sedative so she could be loaded onto the truck. Becky would add the sedative to the food that they gave her.
The problem was, when the cow saw a human, she would run away so they barricaded the area where Bonnie would come to get her food. They even had to up the dose, because it wasn’t strong enough at first.
After being sedated, Bonnie was loaded onto a truck by the Farm Sanctuary staff and brought to her new home. She is now living the good life with other cows, safe from harm.