A DAIRY cow was found alive after being stuck in a tree for four days after the super storm and two calves defied the odds to survive near drowning.
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A farmer cut the tree down with a chainsaw and the dairy cow walked away, Hunter Local Land Services general manager Brett Miners said.
Mr Miners said this was one of several quirky anecdotes to have come from the storm.
His organisation had tracked more than 400 livestock deaths in the storm, but many more were expected to have occurred.
Berry Park resident Hilton Grugeon said a neighbour rescued two calves on his property, using an aluminium boat.
‘‘The water was halfway up them,’’ Mr Grugeon said.
He had searched the property during the storm to herd 250 cattle to safe ground, but the two calves were missed.
Mr Grugeon said his neighbour grabbed one of the calves and put it in the boat.
‘‘As he grabbed the other one, the first one jumped out,’’ he said.
‘‘He had to grab it back and put it in the dinghy.
‘‘Then they stood there all the way to our front drive.’’
He said the water ‘‘came halfway up our front drive’’ in the flood.
‘‘My wife was there and these two little baby calves were very hungry,’’ he said.
‘‘She put her fingers in their mouths, they started sucking her fingers and she led them to the herd and they were reunited with their mothers, who were delighted.’’
He wondered ‘‘how these little fellas can convince their mates that they’ve been for a ride in a boat’’.
