LYNDON (NBC 26) — A pregnant cow that fled during a devastating barn fire in Lyndon has been located thanks to a neighbor's drone technology, but the rescue mission is far from over.
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Dennis and Carolyn Krahn woke up around 3 a.m. last month to the sound of crackling and a bright light outside their home.
"I opened up the shade and the barn was on fire," Carolyn Krahn said.
Their 100-year-old barn was completely destroyed in the blaze, along with equipment and silos. During the chaos, their pregnant cow ran off into nearby woods.
"The animals got freaked out. They were outside anyway but all of the commotion for 12, 14 hours was hard on them," Krahn said.
When the family's daughter posted on Facebook asking for help finding the missing cow, neighbor Eric Grasse stepped forward. Grasse is a drone operator who typically uses thermal technology to find injured deer.
"I got a message from somebody saying her parents had a cow that went missing," Grasse said.
Using his drone, Grasse began searching the woods near the farm and successfully located the cow.
"And there's the cow," he said during a recent search. "Yup — she's right there — ready to be rescued."
While Grasse doesn't often search for lost animals, he finds the work rewarding.
"It's pretty rewarding to be able to reunite people with a pet and a lost animal," Grasse said.
Despite knowing the cow's location, the family says capturing her won't be easy since she's skittish and large. The Krahns plan to push her out of the woods toward a nearby farm, hoping to complete the rescue before March when she's due to give birth.
The discovery has brought comfort to the family, especially Dennis Krahn, who was deeply concerned about the animal's whereabouts.
"It's just a comfort to my husband because he's just concerned as to where she was. We had no idea at all where she was — so this was very good for him to offer that," Carolyn Krahn said.
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