The Mystery of the Missing Cow

I love a good mystery.  I am an avid reader of detective novels so am well versed in sleuthing techniques. This came in handy recently when I arrived home to the farm after a morning of errands.  I got out of the car and noticed a cow flop (pie) in the front yard.  At first I chalked it up to living life on a farm but then I noticed a second one slightly further away in the yard.  Hmmmmm, I thought, the cows live in an enclosed  area (paddock, pasture--whatever you call that place they live); why would cow flop be in the front yard? I made a closer inspection and the "flop" seemed to be fairly fresh.  I have now stepped in enough of them to recognize fresh over others.  Using my years of accumulated knowledge on sleuthing, I decided to check the barn and pasture to see if the cows were still there (very deductive reasoning on my part).  Of the two cows who live on the farm, only one was visible leaving me to conclude that one cow had left. (man--I'm good at this detecting thing).  The next logical step was to figure out where the cow had gone.  I first assumed that the cow could not get out on its own so perhaps the family of the farmers had come and gotten a cow for purposes I could not or, perhaps did not, want to know. I looked around the yard and didn't see a cow so maybe it was taken away.  Maybe it was cattle rustled! 

I made a call to find out whether the cow had been purposely removed only to be informed that no one had come to take the cow away.  I then deduced that the cow had probably not been rustled as most of the other farms around here already have plenty of their own cows and wouldn't need to come and steal this one which left the only other option----the cow had gotten out and wandered off.  OH NO!  I have no idea how to: a) find a lost cow; b) get it back.   Unfortunately I am not fond of westerns so haven't learned any useful knowledge about cow retrieval by reading those novels.

Luckily, following my phone call alerting them, the family sent two relatives to find the cow, which they did - it was in the woods happily eating whatever cows eat in the woods.  The two of them managed to chase it back to the enclosure where I waited with the gate open so the cow could be chased back in.  Who knew that you only had to chase the cow? Of course it did take two of them on either side of the cow as it wanted to wander left or right while being chased rather than be directed back to the proper cow living abode.  I secured the gate behind the cow happy to see it returned with the knowledge that I would not have to encounter any more cow leavings in the yard.  An inspection of the fence showed a place where the cow managed to knock a part down and get out.  This was repaired and now the cows seem to be staying where they belong. Thank goodness. I don't mind doing the detecting but am not sure I can cow chase worth a damn.