Ring Lost in Whangarei, Eaten by Cow - Found!

Over the years, I’ve had my share of looking for rings lost while gardening, throwing things for the dog, or just being lobbed randomly during arguments.  This was my first hunt for a ring that had been vacuumed off a finger by a calf!

Luke made contact after reading of my successful hunts, and for me the story was too intriguing!  He had been letting the calves suck his fingers in order to keep them tame, and the hand came back minus the ring…

On the day in question, he hadn’t banked on the powerful combination of bovine slobber and suction!  Catch was, had it been spat out on the ground nearby,  chewed, swallowed and passed through the digestive system to turn up elsewhere in the paddock…or was it still in there?

He was very pleased to see me, and we headed straight out so he could show me where it all happened, also pointing out the calves that I could end up scanning!  The ground had been dry, which was good as it meant it was unlikely to have been pressed deep into mud – however the Autumn-flush grass was mid-calf (That’s my calf, not the cow variety) which was going to make it very hard work.

I started at the “Point Last Seen” and nosed the coil in and around the grass in the immediate vicinity with no luck, so I resigned myself to gridding about an acre of very lush pasture.

With my back into the corner of the wire fences, I took the first swing, and was immediately disheartened by the erratic threshold sounds of electrical interference from a buried cable. Not overly bad fortunately.  Second swing…. third swing and a golden tone rang through the headphones! I parted the long grass, couldn’t see anything.  Out with the pinpointer, it chirped away…but I still couldn’t see anything.

A slight change of head angle and a flash of yellow lit up in among the dead stems. It was already making itself very comfortable in there, and I was glad I didn’t have to use the rubber gloves 🙂

Knocked on the door of the house again, and was met by a huge smile when I held the ring up – That’s when I found out, it’s their wedding anniversary in just a few days.