NEW SHARON (AP) – The last of 36 wayward cows that bolted from their farm during a thunderstorm two weeks ago have been rounded up after their owner stayed on their tail through woods and chest-deep water.

“We found the last of them Sunday,” owner Jeff Harris said. “They were in real good condition and must have found plenty to eat.”

The young Holsteins, some only 6 months old, were apparently scared by a thunderstorm and broke free from an electric fence surrounding their pen.

Harris found the bulk of them last week but the last five proved to be sneaky, he said.

Neighbors sighted the cows during the past two weeks but they would scuttle off every time Harris showed up.

When he spotted them Sunday on Jersey Avenue, a dead-end road, he was determined to stay on their trail. He moved aside heavy brush and waded through the water of a beaver bog, with his cell phone above his head to keep it dry, hot on the trail of his cows, which finally decided to give themselves up without a fight.

Harris thanked everyone in the community who kept a lookout for his herd.

“I was starting to get pretty depressed, but now everything has worked out fine,” he said.

AP-ES-06-17-03 0933EDT