That sounds like something our cows would do. Early this spring while calving one of our first calf heifers had a Hardcore bull calf. The next morning after she had him I went out to go check everyone, couldn't find her calf. I kept seeing her run over to this down tree that is wallowed out underneath. It is like a canopy for the cows in the summer and winter because even though it is blown down, it is still alive, best shelter ever.
I walked right up to the edge of the down tree looked down, couldn't see anything under the brush of the tree or anything, noticed that my husband had shoved some old fence posts right down under the edge, but no calf. I looked EVERYWHERE. The heifers had 27 acres of pasture, nothing. And she still kept running back to the down tree.
After a half hour of looking and not finding anything I walked back out to the front pasture and all of the heifers were around the down tree so for the fifth time I went back and just as I was walking around the high side, I saw steam rising up from between the old fence posts that were down in the bottom. That was when we were getting all the rain this spring and the side of the wallow had washed straight down, he had gotten to close and slid down and somehow the posts were closed over top of him. I could see one eye and an ear, that was it.
Here is where it gets good. When he sees me over top of him, he moos. Mom comes running up and bumps me, straight down the hill on top of him and the posts. The only way out was straight back up the hill, which to get to the top of was the length of me with my hands outstretched in front of me laying on my stomach. Luckily I had my cell phone and called the neighbor, no answer. My husband was at work hauling parts for a transformer already 4 hours away from me.
So I figured since I was already in the hole I would at least try to get the calf out and them surely I could get out. I had to move big posts just to make a hole to pull the calf out of by his front legs, then started trying to push him up the hill ahead of me. It is amazing but I swear the calf had doubled in size since the night before when he was born because he was HEAVY. When I finally got him pushed up the hill, I had just got him to the crest at the top, I gave the final push to send him over and the posts gave way underneath me, effectively locking my ankle down in between them.
I finally was able to wriggle my ankle loose from my boot and climb out of the hole, after a half hour. I could have just seen now if I would have had to call the volunteer fire department, my husband is good friends with the whole crew, I would have had to move out of the county. Within days of the incident, and my husband telling it, I had about 10 people give me their cell phone numbers to call them if I got in another predicament like that, which could be a weekly basis with my cows.
By the way, the calf hadn't been named at that point, his name is now Sinker.
