Ghost Cow? or Estella Cow?

Somewhere near 3:30 A.M. I staggered to the bathroom then shuffled back to bed. As I was dozing off to sleep, I heard a cow say, "Mooooo. Mooo." (This is not a Far Side cartoon post. The cow actually only said, "Mooooo. Mooo.") This said cow sounded as if she was in our backyard not far from our bedroom window. We live in a small town, so it was a strange and out-of-place noise. When we lived in the country on 45 acres and a neighbor down the road rented our pasture for his cattle, it was not strange to hear cows mooing anytime, night or day, but hearing the cow moo in town where there are not cows or pastures caused me to say out loud to my snoring husband, "Mike. Are you awake?" (duh) Mike takes a slow deep stirring breath and as in slow motion says, "Huh?" Again I say, "Did you hear a cow?" "Huh?", he says again coming-to a bit more. I repeat, "Did you hear a cow? I think I just heard a cow. But don't worry about it. I'm probably just hearing things. Go back to sleep." Now Mike is really awake and he has sprung into action. He heads down the hall to find a good flashlight. I pad along giving warnings to be careful and asking where the cow might have come from and asking if maybe our neighbor would be coming home drunk and mooing like a cow (not usual or likely). We go to the back door and step outside. Mike shines the light all around (I'm still whispering and cautioning him to be careful, very helpful like,) but we see no cow and we hear no cow. We only shrug our shoulders, mutter some wonderings and go back to bed. And we lose no sleep over the wee morning ramble. But in the light of day before I'm fully awake, Mike comes in to return the favor and wakes me to tell me there are definite signs that a cow went through our yard and he says, "You better get the camera." (He knows me well!) So these photos are cow signs and I'm not sure, but from the look of the manure, the cow doesn't seem well. Maybe it was sick or delirious or mad. I am sorry about the boring post, but the proof is in the pictures. I am most amazed that the cow stepped through our garden frame without damaging the young strawberry plants or bean seedlings.

The End.

The backyard evidence up close. (Sorry)

Cow manure through the yard and a view of the path most likely taken by said cow.

Can you see the silo in the background? It is near the edge of town a wheat field and housing development away from our backyard where this photo was taken. It's our best guess that the cow wandered from there.