Germans in panic

Peaceful cow on hiking trail: woman dialed emergency number

This is how our cartoonist Alfred Zettler sees the situation in the Wildschönau.

(Bild: Zettler Alfred)

The mere sight of a harmless cow from Wildschönau panicked a German hiker in Tyrol to such an extent that she called the emergency services. The Auffach/Wildschönau mountain rescue team (Kufstein district) then had to go out on a very special mission.

Resi really hadn't expected this. That's what we call the Tyrolean calf that was peacefully enjoying one of its last days on the mountain pastures with its "mother" and other suckler cows and calves in the rear Wildschönau - without any bad intentions. Resi was grazing in a meadow near the Steinerhöfe farms and walked a few meters along the hiking trail into the forest.

After the Joelspitze, Resi the calf was waiting
There the animal was met by a speedy German mountaineer. The young woman had previously courageously climbed the Joelspitze (1964 m) and was now descending alone towards Wildschönau. However, she was not expecting Resi in the middle of the hiking trail. So four eyes looked at each other, and according to reports, Resi was not feeling very well when they met.

Of course, the German woman dialed the emergency number. She felt threatened and attacked by the calf and the herd of cows that had made themselves comfortable in the meadow. The matter became a case for the Auffach/Wildschönau mountain rescue team.

Mountain rescuers had to smile
"When the Tyrol control center contacted me, I smiled a little," says head of operations Andreas Mayr. He called the panicked German woman, tried to find out her location and - above all - to calm her down. "She sounded pretty upset," says the incident commander.

Four men raced to the scene of the incident
Four of the mountain rescue team raced to the scene of the alleged cow attack at an altitude of 1150 meters. Mayr: "During the approach, I asked the lady to go back a little on the path." She did so, while Resi remained standing peacefully.

The woman sounded pretty upset on the phone.

Andreas Mayr, Einsatzleiter Bergrettung Auffach/Wildschönau

Led past the cow to the car
Once at the scene, the charming mountain rescuer took the alpinist by the hand and led her past the rather bewildered Resi to the mountain rescue vehicle. Finally, the uninjured German woman was chauffeured down into the valley.

German woman wants to pay for the operation
The woman wants to pay for the operation, Resi will tell the story to her descendants - allegedly.