Calf rescued from sinkhole in Alachua County, Florida

© John Haven, UF College of Veterinary Medicine

An Alachua County firefighter descends into a sinkhole to rescue a 2-day-old calf that fell in.

A mama cow's mournful lowing for her lost newborn ceased and was replaced with a joyful gallop after a team of Alachua County firefighters and staff at the University of Florida veterinary college rescued a 2-day-old calf from a sinkhole Saturday.

The technical rescue team members put training to the test when the calf slid into a newly formed sinkhole about 15 feet deep and 15 feet wide at a Newberry farm.

"If you could have seen the cow, the mother, come running past when we turned that calf loose," Alachua County Fire Rescue District Chief Jeff Harpe said. "She just goes running by like she was being chased by cowboys. As soon as we turned the calf loose, it looks around like, are you my mama? And then wanders off. Then here comes the galloping of the mother."

The ACFR technical rescue team is trained to rescue people from hazardous situations with rope, ladders, harnesses and other equipment. It also works with UF College of Veterinary Medicine Director John Haven and his team to rescue animals.

Haven had been training with the ACFR team Saturday in Newberry. They had wrapped up and were at the Fort Clarke Boulevard station when the call came in about the stranded calf.

ACFR went immediately to the scene, while Haven got a UF team member and then went to the farm.

A plan was developed to lower firefighter Brian Ferguson into the sinkhole. The calf was not injured in the fall and did not kick up any fuss at all as Ferguson attached a harness so it could be hoisted out of the sink.