CAPE LOOKOUT, N.C. (AP) — A trio of castaway wild cows have returned home after being found on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where they apparently washed up after swimming for miles to escape Hurricane Dorian ’s storm surge.
The Raleigh News & Observer reports that the cows were returned to their native stomping grounds on Friday after a two-day operation.
Officials think the stranded cows swam up to 5 miles (8 kilometers) during the September storm before being found near Cape Lookout this month. The cows belong to a herd that roams freely on Cedar Island, across the sound.
When Dorian generated an 8-foot (2-meter) “mini tsunami,” it washed them and dozens of other animals away, including 28 wild horses that died.