'My neighbour knocked on my door and said there's a cow in your swimming pool'
A pregnant cow was lifted from a Rutland man's swimming pool using a harness by the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue team after she decided to take a dip
by Beci Wood · The MirrorFor most people, their neighbours pop round to give you a heads up about an upcoming event, or maybe to pick up a parcel you'd taken in for them, but for one man, his neighbour came round for an altogether stranger reason - there was a pregnant cow in his swimming pool.
The Leicestershire Fire and Rescue team used a harness to lift the animal out after the cow "checked herself in for a spa day". Thankfully the cow has been returned to her home and is " fit and well".
Ian Blackburn, who lives in Ketton, Rutland, was on the phone when a neighbour popped round to tell him about the surprise guest. His neighbour, a farmer, alerted him to his bovine intruder in a moment you couldn't even imagine.
He told the BBC : "The doorbell went - I was on the phone at the time to a friend - and Andy the farmer was at the door. As I opened the door he said 'have you looked in your pool recently?', and I said 'no, why?', and he said 'well, there's a cow in it'. It's not every day that you spend three or four hours trying to recover a beast from the pool."
Firefighters drained the pool and lifted the cow out before she was checked over by a vet to make sure she and her calf were OK before she was returned home.
But Ian wasn't the only one to have a bovine visitor to his home. Up in Ayr, Scotland, residents on a quiet street were left baffled when they woke up to cows in their gardens and police on their street. Cops were called to Hillfoot Road in the historic town after cows were spotted grazing in someone's garden.
Neighbours were quick to post photos online after they opened their curtains to see cows at around 8.30am. One neighbour even caught the hilarious incident on video, showing cows at around 10am still congregating in the same front garden. In the footage, a police officer can be seen standing in front of the home, assessing the situation.