• Courtesy/Sam Crawford
• A cow in a flooded pasture

When Denise and John Daly heard moos at 3 a.m. on Thursday, they knew that something was amiss with their herd of 20 Murray Grey cattle. At dawn, the problem became clear: The animals were stranded in high, rushing water after the previous night’s rain and flooding.

The Dalys own 123 acres in Hinesburg, the town that National Weather Service meteorologist Matthew Clay said received the highest reported rainfall in Vermont last night: 6.61 inches. The LaPlatte River runs through their back pastures, and in recent years, high rainfall has led to flooding.

“It still looks like we have massive lakes around us versus pasture, and you can't see riverbanks at all,” Denise Daly said.

The couple prepared for the rainfall as they always have, fencing the cattle in on high land. But the animals got out in the dead of night and ended up in the rising water.

“I think once they got in there and got confused, then they were just trying to find ground," Denise Daly said. "And it's pitch black, so they ended up very, very far out.”

The morning light revealed the treacherous situation. The water was six to seven feet deep at some points. The biggest cows in the herd could stand, but younger animals were treading water.

The Dalys quickly began a rescue operation, heading into the water on kayaks. They led their calves to land one by one, making sure to give the young animals life preservers and holding up their noses to breathe. The Dalys knew they would need help moving the bigger animals.

Denise put out a call for help on Facebook, and about 20 Hinesburg residents responded. Using several canoes and kayaks, the group formed a line and herded the animals to dry ground. By 9 a.m., the mission was complete.

“We only lost a month-old calf. We couldn't find her this morning, which my daughter is very heartbroken about that,” Daly said. “It could have been so much worse, and if we hadn't had help, we would have lost all the animals.”

Sam Crawford was one of the people happy to help. “Denise and John are such great people," he said. "When she put the word out on social media, my partner, Joanne, and I threw on our muck boots and raincoats and raced over to help."

The Dalys and their animals aren’t out of the woods yet, though. Daly said they need to check the cows for pneumonia and other bacterial infections from being in the water.

“We're trying to give them as much support to keep their immune systems up at this point,” Daly said. “We want to treat them with respect and love.”

• Daria Bishop
• The animals after their rescue