Cattle swim to higher ground, calf gets some help

A Saskatchewan cattle rancher had to rush onto a flooded pasture to help a herd of cattle that was swimming to high ground. The older cows were fine, but a newborn calf needed some help.

It happened near Neudorf, Sask., in the Qu'Appelle Valley where about 30 animals were caught in some flooding.

Tanner Piller used his motorboat to round up the cattle and direct them to safety.

The herd swam easily to a dry spot about one kilometre away.

"They actually kind of knew where they were going," Piller told CBC News Wednesday. "They started heading straight for home."

But a calf needed extra help.

"He started bobbing up and down," Piller told CBC News Wednesday. "We knew he wasn't going to make it all the way. But we brought a rope with us and we got up beside him and roped him."

Piller said he and his father were able to get the calf into the boat and he rode with them to safety.