Three Cows Carried Away by Hurricane Dorian Turn Up Five Miles From Their Home

A lot of unusual things turn up on beaches after major storms, from Civil War cannonballs to 19th-century shipwrecks. Hurricane Dorian made an especially surprising delivery to the Outer Banks in North Carolina earlier this year. As Smithsonian reports, three cows thought to be lost for good were found grazing on a shoreline miles away from their home.

The cattle are originally from Cedar Island, a fishing community on the North Carolina coast. Wild horses in this region have adapted to survive the hurricanes that regularly batter the state, but the rapid flooding was too strong for one group of animals when Hurricane Dorian landed in September. The storm surge swept away 17 cattle and 28 horses from the island.

All of the animals missing from Cedar Island were feared to be dead, and the bodies of a few horses were even discovered washed up on shore. But against abysmal odds, at least three of the cows survived. The first was found in Cape Lookout National Seashore in the barrier islands the day after the storm dissipated. Three weeks later, two more cows showed up on the same stretch of grass four to five miles from where they were last seen.

The cattle of Cedar Island can swim, but crossing several miles of stormy water would have been treacherous for any land animal. Despite the traumatic journey, the official Facebook page for Cedar Island's horses reports that the cows "look healthy and well." The next step will be to transport the cows back to their original home, possibly by ferry. If that plan falls through, the trio will become permanent residents of Cape Lookout.