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This isn’t MY story, but its a good one. In fact, a good TWO.
Background: Aaron Kelly was newly hired by The Bank of Commerce (the bank I work for in Arco) to work in the Mud Lake Office. Yes, the town’s name really is Mud Lake. There is an actual Mud Lake, which I have never seen, but I assume its pretty…well…muddy looking. Aaron is in his late 20’s to early 30’s I would guess, and he and his wife had recently purchased a home in this picturesquely named town.
Early one morning (about 2 A.M. I believe) Aaron was awakened by the sound of clopping and mooing. He looked out of his window to see his lawn full of cows. It seems that the neighboring farmer’s fence was in need of a little repair. Aaron went to phone the neighbor when he heard a loud thud. One of the cows had fallen into his window well, a rectangular hole which, when you fall into it, gains you access to the basement windows. At first, it appeared that the bovine was wedged in so tightly that there would be no way to get her out of there alive. Bossie, however, had other ideas.The sound of breaking glass seemed to go on forever. The whole family was now awake and trooped down to find a cow on the loose in their basement. She was a little bloody and a lot scared. Those of you who are familiar with farm livestock can imagine what other havok was wreaked as the frightened cow rushed around looking for a way out. She really spread the “fertilizer” around and then released “Niagara Falls”, which splashed freely around the unfinished (fortunately) basement.
The neighbor finally arrived a little sleep-logged and incredulous, and between the two of them, they were able to herd the unfortunate cow up the basement stairs and into the living room. Aaron’s wife, meanwhile, had formed a “chute” with the living room furniture and was wielding a child’s stick horse to wave at the cow if she seemed inclined to veer from her appointed path through the room and out the door, but she didn’t end up having to use this potent weapon.
The next day, the farmer went out in his herd, but was unable to tell which cow had had the great adventure. It seems she was none the worse for it.
As for the Kelly’s house, the farmers’ insurance company contacted them bright and early the next morning, and by evening, a cleaning crew had arrived, along with a new basement window.
Great story, huh?

The last story occured over a year ago, but this one happened quite recently. The Kellys had acquired a new puppy, a largish collie dog. Aaron was trying to train her not to chase the neighbor’s cattle (probably trying to keep them from jumping the fence and getting into their house again!), so when he caught her out in the middle of the herd, he disciplined her. To let the lesson sink in, he decided to tie her up for 15 minutes or so, and as he wasn’t planning to go anywhere that evening, he slipped the loop at the end of the leash over the ball hitch on the back of his pickup. I’ll bet you already know where this story is heading. Aaron’s wife, late for her book group, jumped in the pickup and took off. By the time Aaron realized what was happening, she was down the road. VERY fortunately, she stopped at the next house about 100 yards away to give her neighbor a ride to the book group, and the neighbor noticed the puppy tied behind the pickup. The poor dog was terrified, but okay. As Aaron and his son were gazing down the road trying to see what was happening, Rover came racing back to the house, vowing that never again would she chase the neighbor’s cows.

Aren’t those funny stories? Aaron happened to be working at our branch today, and we got the stories straight “from the horse’s mouth”. Though I had heard the cow-in-the-basement story before, I made him tell it again to refresh my memory.
Like I said, only in Idaho!

UltraMom