LONDON (CNN) -- When an entire herd of dairy cattle was swept away by violent floods in northeast England, the cows were later found in various nearby towns, farms and fields along the River Eden -- including one who ended up on a putting green at a golf course... 15 miles away.
It landed Monday at Eden Golf Club in Cumbria in the aftermath of Storm Desmond, which ravaged neighborhoods, train lines and sports fields, and caused more than 60,000 homes to lose power.
The clubhouse itself was submerged under three feet of water. So, when the club owner went out to inspect the damage to his golf course, he expected the worst.
What he found was a large dairy cow.
A herd of cattle was swept away by Storm Desmond... Later, one cow was found 15 miles away: https://t.co/3NUSbPypqf pic.twitter.com/bRamTsccAq
— Will Heilpern (@willheilpern) December 9, 2015
Deemed unsuitable for the putting green, the tired beast was caught by course employee Ian Allen, who contacted the British Cattle Movement Service with its ear tag number.
He was then supplied with the cow owner's phone number. At this point, it emerged that the cow had been transported from a field 15 miles away.
"It was a miracle," Ian Allen, 52, told CNN.
"There wasn't a mark on the cow. You'd have expected it to be dead."
The heifer came from Gordon Tweedie's dairy farm in Lazonby, also in Cumbria. They lost a heard of 45 cows during the floods. Fortunately, by the time they collected the cow from the golf course, they were only missing four, according to Allen.
CNN contacted the Tweedies, who were "too busy looking for other lost animals" to comment.
Donkey rescue
Meanwhile in Kerry, Ireland, which was also drenched by severe floods resulting from Storm Desmond, a drowning donkey was spotted.
Local residents managed to rescue the drenched donkey, named Mike, with a boat from the local rowing club.
Mike emerged onto dry land with what appeared to be a wide grin on his face.
"Mike would like to say hello to all his fans and say thank you very much for all your lovely comments wishing him well," the Animal Heaven Animal Rescue center later posted to Facebook.
"He is feeling much better."
The-CNN-Wire
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