nimrod456789
4th Aug 2001, 14:45
A pregnant cow which plunged into a 60ft gully in the Western Isles was rescued by a coastguard helicopter ahead of a fast-rising tide.
Shona, the prize heifer, had fallen into the gully at Tigharry on North Uist on the Thursday morning (August 2).
Owner Alasdair Macdonald, 43, noticed she was missing after noticing one of his 26 cattle was missing.
"I looked over into the gully and saw Shona standing there looking up. I thought she would have died anyway."
Mr Macdonald, of 15 Tigharry, who also has 150 sheep on his croft, called a local vet and a major rescue operation was set up by the coastguards.
Auxilliary coastguard teams from Griminish and Benbecula were sent to the scene as the standby rescue helicopter based at Stornoway Airport was got ready.
Bristow Helicopters provides the islands' coastguard helicopter service.
Chief pilot Alan Elphinstone, who was the captain for mercy mission, explained: "This is not the kind of job that we are normally equipped to do.
"Our regular helicopter does not have the fittings for the strops for an underslung net but as the standby aircraft has them and was here we used it."
PDG Helicopters of Inverness, which often takes loads of salmon to Highlands and Islands fish farms, were contacted for the vital strops and slings to fix the underslung net to the hook on the helicopter's underside.
Strops were taken from one of their small Squirrel helicopters, which was already working at Kyle of Lochalsh, to Plockton Airport where the coastguard helicopter picked them up on the way to rescue the cow at North Uist.
In a spectacular and dodgy operation, winchman Alf Kitwood was lowered into the gully by winch operator Steve Branley where Shona was being pacified by coastguards, having been first sedated by the vet.
Shona was then gingerly hoisted up and out of the gully.
The 1,800lb cow then quickly stood up and looked around puzzled at what all the fuss was about.
Alasdair Macdonald said: "Nothing is broken. I just don't know how she fell in there and survived too."
He said he could not praise enough the combined efforts of the rescuers of his heifer - who he hopes will calf again in December.
Coastguard watch manager Duncan Mackay said: "Normally, our clients come a little smaller than this as it is usually sheep and pet dogs that get into predicament. It goes to show that you have to be prepared for anything."
Capt Elphinstone, who kept the large Sikorsky S61N helicopter steady with co-pilot Simon Tye during the entire rescue, said: "It was a slow tricky operation but it worked well.
"I don't know how long we had but the tide was definitely rising fast and there was no other way to get the cow out.
He added: "I have been involved in some interesting jobs in my time but this is the first pregnant cow. I hope Shona will be okay now."
Shona, the prize heifer, had fallen into the gully at Tigharry on North Uist on the Thursday morning (August 2).
Owner Alasdair Macdonald, 43, noticed she was missing after noticing one of his 26 cattle was missing.
"I looked over into the gully and saw Shona standing there looking up. I thought she would have died anyway."
Mr Macdonald, of 15 Tigharry, who also has 150 sheep on his croft, called a local vet and a major rescue operation was set up by the coastguards.
Auxilliary coastguard teams from Griminish and Benbecula were sent to the scene as the standby rescue helicopter based at Stornoway Airport was got ready.
Bristow Helicopters provides the islands' coastguard helicopter service.
Chief pilot Alan Elphinstone, who was the captain for mercy mission, explained: "This is not the kind of job that we are normally equipped to do.
"Our regular helicopter does not have the fittings for the strops for an underslung net but as the standby aircraft has them and was here we used it."
PDG Helicopters of Inverness, which often takes loads of salmon to Highlands and Islands fish farms, were contacted for the vital strops and slings to fix the underslung net to the hook on the helicopter's underside.
Strops were taken from one of their small Squirrel helicopters, which was already working at Kyle of Lochalsh, to Plockton Airport where the coastguard helicopter picked them up on the way to rescue the cow at North Uist.
In a spectacular and dodgy operation, winchman Alf Kitwood was lowered into the gully by winch operator Steve Branley where Shona was being pacified by coastguards, having been first sedated by the vet.
Shona was then gingerly hoisted up and out of the gully.
The 1,800lb cow then quickly stood up and looked around puzzled at what all the fuss was about.
Alasdair Macdonald said: "Nothing is broken. I just don't know how she fell in there and survived too."
He said he could not praise enough the combined efforts of the rescuers of his heifer - who he hopes will calf again in December.
Coastguard watch manager Duncan Mackay said: "Normally, our clients come a little smaller than this as it is usually sheep and pet dogs that get into predicament. It goes to show that you have to be prepared for anything."
Capt Elphinstone, who kept the large Sikorsky S61N helicopter steady with co-pilot Simon Tye during the entire rescue, said: "It was a slow tricky operation but it worked well.
"I don't know how long we had but the tide was definitely rising fast and there was no other way to get the cow out.
He added: "I have been involved in some interesting jobs in my time but this is the first pregnant cow. I hope Shona will be okay now."