Life on the Farm: The Marvelous Miss Mabel
the cow who ran away with a County’s heart
By now, the Marvelous Miss Mabel likely needs little introduction. Capturing headlines and hearts across Whatcom County and beyond while she evaded being caught for a number of months, Mabel’s story has become one of local legend and trivia—not to mention an upcoming children’s book and documentary.
It all started on a hot Saturday morning last August when WHS Animal Control received a call from 911 requesting assistance to help an owner catch two loose cows on Hannegan Road near Bakerview Road in North Bellingham. Two young cows had escaped from a livestock trailer enroute to the auction barn. After a couple of hours running in and out of traffic, one cow was safely contained by its owner, but the other eluded capture and disappeared into a greenbelt behind the movie theater in Barkley Village.
For several weeks, the cow named Mabel was spotted around the Barkley Village neighborhood. Her original owner and a group of his friends attempted—using a variety of unsuccessful and at times dangerous methods—to contain her with no luck. As summer turned to fall, it became obvious that Mabel needed to be safely contained before she caused an accident and injured herself or others. Mabel’s original owner said he “washed his hands” of the situation and surrendered ownership to WHS.
Consulting a diverse group of livestock experts, veterinarians, cow owners, and working with a small group of kindhearted neighbors in the area, WHS staff and volunteers constructed an enclosure, set up a feeding station, and secured a horse trailer to the enclosure. For several days, game cameras captured the elusive bovine visiting the enclosure and eating. A trip wire was then installed inside the enclosure, and on a very rainy night in October, Miss Mabel entered it to eat, tripped the wire, and as if she knew she was safe, walked right into the dry trailer filled with hay and sweet grain. WHS staff and volunteers were hiding just feet away and able to close the trailer door, securing Mabel safely inside. She arrived at the WHS Farm late in the evening, and a collective sigh of relief was had by human and cow alike!
Understandably, and in keeping with the personality that kept her roaming Barkley Village for weeks on end, Mabel was extremely wary of people at first and is still in the process of learning to trust.
“She didn't let anyone near her for the first couple of days,” WHS Farm Caretaker Kami Steinbach said, “but I started giving her grain and molasses with apples in an attempt to win her over. Within 3 days, she was eating out of the bucket I was holding.”
As Kami highlighted, it’s important to remember that Mabel is still under a year old and was only 5 or 6 months old when she first got loose. Overcoming her mistrust of humans after those earlier life experiences will take time. That said, Kami has seen significant improvements from Mabel these past few months—from allowing Kami to touch her nose while she is eating to taking food from Kami’s hand and letting her face be petted.
“She is still wary of strangers and groups of more than three people, but she lets me pet her, brush her, halter her, and she will take food from people,” Kami said. “She's very curious and smart, but still cautious and can be quite sassy. She gives the best side eye I've ever seen.”
“After her vet appointment, she gave me the cold shoulder for a day and a half,” Kami went on to share with a laugh. “She's not at all mean, but she is great at ignoring or avoiding you if she doesn't feel like socializing.”
While Mabel is the only cow at the WHS Farm right now, she’s made fast friends with her fellow barn residents.
“Mabel loves her goat companions and regularly hangs out with them. She seems to like to watch them when they are playing and being silly,” Kami said. “And she prefers to eat her breakfast in a place where she can see the horses from over the fence.”
Mabel’s legendary rescue sparked a lot of conversation, inspiring songs, Halloween costumes, and a whole neighborhood of folks to come together in service of helping one lost calf find her way to safety. Above all else, WHS hopes Mabel’s story inspires greater kindness, compassion, and respect for all animals, big and small.
“A lot of people see cows as just that: Cows. Cattle. One of a herd who are all the same. But Mabel's story is one of survival, endurance, and adaptability,” Kami said. “I can only imagine how scary it was for her to be loose, all alone, literally in the middle of a city! She found food and water, she evaded capture, she crossed roads, she found shelter, she avoided other animal attacks—all at an age where she should have probably still been with her mama. To come through all of that and still be as trusting and sweet as she is, it's pretty amazing. I hope people will realize how individual each animal is and how the need for survival kicks in during stressful times. Cows want to live their best life, too.”