I could hear the cow bellowing before I could see her. I came over the rise of the rock and peered down over the edge. She was on the smallest of ledges, and I glanced around hurriedly, trying to figure out how she came to be there. Her hooves scuffed in the shallow layer of red sand as she shifted uneasily from side to side. She bellowed again into the stiff wind, her plaintiff cry carried hopelessly into the canyon beyond.

After speaking soothing words to the trapped animal, I turned and ran back toward the path hoping her owner might be nearby. But I knew that cows often wandered this land alone. The random fence lines marked the borders of family land claimed long ago and the cows wandered freely in search of rare patches of grass in the expanse of sagebrush. No one in sight, I pulled my cell phone from my back pocket. Does Search and Rescue help with stranded cows I wondered as the ring continued in my ear.

It was dark by time I got down the mesa. My hands were skinned and they cramped up as I recalled pulling those heavy ropes in tandem with four others. The sling around the young cow’s belly held as we slowly inched her up face of the sandstone cliff. Once over the top edge to safety, the sling buckles clanged and scraped against the rock beneath her. Her eyes were wild with fear and she panted as she lay on her side in the binding canvas. Then freed at last, she wobbled for a moment on shaky legs and then trotted off in the night with quite a story to tell the herd.