Stranded cow tranquilized, lifted to safety

AMERICUS, Ga. (AP) -- A year-old cow was tranquilized into contentment and then airlifted to safety Friday from a tiny island where she had been stranded for weeks by rising water.
"She's emaciated," said veterinarian Linda Sawyer, a member of the team that rescued the 250-to-350-pound heifer dubbed Blackshear. "She's 150 pounds lighter than she should be."
Sawyer said the cow was also slightly dehydrated. She had been marooned for about three weeks on a cypress-covered island the size of a city block in Lake Blackshear, a 20-mile-long lake in southwest Georgia.
After an animal control worker delivered a shot of sedatives and tranquilizers, the cow's knees got wobbly and she settled to the bank. Rescuers then attached slings around her chest and stomach and a state patrol helicopter inched into position, lowered a rope and hauled the limp cow about 100 feet into the air for a ride to shore, some 300 yards away.
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