When Wyoming ranchers need to get medical treatment for hurt cattle, a vet may come to the ranch and treat the animal on-site, or if that’s not possible, a cow could be loaded onto a trailer to get to the nearest clinic.
In Switzerland, injured cattle fly the friendly skies.
Because of the rugged landscape and general inaccessibility to where the cattle are, getting cows to vets takes a little extra effort. A video posted last week to the Nature is Amazing X feed (formerly Twitter) shows how that happens with a cow being evacuated from mountainous terrain dangling from a harness attached to a helicopter.
The scene looks like a “Jurassic Park” training video on how to feed a T. rex. While it’s certainly an attention-grabbing thing to see and might be practical in the neutral European nation, the sky is not the limit for Wyoming ranchers with sick or injured cattle.
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Udderly Unnecessary
Jim Magagna, executive vice president for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, said aerial vehicles like helicopters and drones are potent tools for Wyoming ranchers to perform a host of tasks. But, airlifting livestock, as shown in the video, isn’t one of them.
“I don’t see how it would be practical,” he said of air ambulances for Cowboy State Cows. “Where would it ever happen? It’s technically doable, but I don’t foresee any real circumstances where it’s likely to be used in Wyoming.”
Topography might have something to do with it. The state of Wyoming is more than six times larger than Switzerland, but several mountain ranges densely cover the European nation.
In such mountainous terrain, the most effective way to move a cow, horse or other livestock might be by hitching it in a harness and sending it skyward. Magagna could only see one scenario where a Wyoming rancher might moo-ve an animal via a helicopter harness.
“If it’s a highly valuable animal, it’s feasible,” he said. “Perhaps a prize bull or something that was lost or needed to be transported quickly for veterinary care. It wouldn’t happen for routine livestock.”
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There are a few Kobe beef ranches in Wyoming, and Kobe cows can be worth as much as $30,000 each.
Another potential scenario is if a bull or cow gets itself trapped or stuck in an inaccessible spot while grazing.
Cowboy Country
Maybe flying cattle with a ticket in bare-basic economy is worth the expense in Switzerland. In Wyoming, better solutions are built into the state’s cultural identity.
Magagna likes a conventional approach. If any livestock wander into a rugged area where aerial evacuation could be an option, there’s no reason why a Wyoming cowboy couldn’t get there, too. That’s because the theory that if a cow can get there, it can get out is usually true.
“If the livestock are still mobile, getting up there by horseback and bringing them down is the most normal method,” he said.
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The simplest answers might not always be the best or most exciting, but they are often the most economical. Perhaps the Swiss enjoy using as many extravagant tools as possible, which might explain the Swiss Army knife.
But what if an animal was hurt and couldn’t be led out? Apparently, the cow being carried in the helicopter harness in the viral video was injured, a somewhat common occurrence in Switzerland, explaining the evacuation.
Magagna conceded that an injured animal in an inaccessible place might force a rancher to make a tough decision, but they’ve been making those decisions as long as humans have been ranching.
“If an individual animal was injured and wasn’t able to travel on its own,” he said, “I think it would come down to a decision of weighing the value of that animal versus the cost that would be involved in an aerial transport.”
Humanely euthanizing an injured animal might not be the neutral solution preferred by Switzerland, but Wyomingites are pragmatic by nature. That approach is why Magagna believes Wyoming’s ranchers will avoid high-flying ideas for tried-and-true, grounded solutions.
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“Even if the livestock owner had their own helicopter that was used to do it, I don’t see it in most cases being feasible,” he said. “I’m not saying it couldn’t be, but I don’t see how it would be practical.”
Screenshot of airlifted cow ((YouTube))
Screenshot of airlifted cow ((YouTube))
This still image from a video posted to X by Nature is Amazing shows a cow dangling from a helicopter in Switzerland. (@AMAZINGNATURE via X)
Flying Deer
Helicopter transport might be too “pie in the sky” for Wyoming ranchers, but flying hoof stock can still be spotted in Cowboy State skies. Because while aerial transport isn’t practical for ranching, it is for wildlife management.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department occasionally uses helicopters to relocate wildlife. For instance, capturing and moving mule deer allows researchers to check it for disease, take biological samples and outfit it with radio collars for movement and migration studies.
In those scenarios, helicopters are operated by flight and capture crews from private contractors rather than Wyoming Game and Fish personnel. Many contractors come from New Zealand, where, like in Switzerland, moving and managing livestock with helicopters is more common.
“Most of those guys are Kiwis,” Shawn Blajszczak, the Wyoming regional director of the Mule Deer Foundation, told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s extremely dangerous work.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at: ARossi@CowboyStateDaily.com
LARAMIE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Cowgirls will return to action Sunday with their final non-conference game of the season when they travel to face Big Ten foe Minnesota on Sunday. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.
Wyoming is coming off a 58-46 loss at Colorado on Dec. 7. Malene Pedersen and Henna Sandvik led the Cowgirls with 11 points each in the loss, while Kelly Walsh High School grad Logann Alvar also finished in double figures, with 10 points.
Madi Symons had a solid all-around game, grabbing a team-high five rebounds while also leading the way with four assists and blocking a pair of shots.
The Cowgirls recorded 12 assists on 18 made baskets against the Buffs and have assisted on better than 65% of their made field goals this season. Wyoming is averaging 14 assists per game in 2025-26, good for fourth in the Mountain West.
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Defensively, UW has been solid all season long. The Cowgirls enter Sunday ranking third in the league in opponent scoring, surrendering 57 points per game. Wyoming also allows just 38.6-percent shooting from the field overall and 24.8-percent from 3-point range. Both marks rank third-best in the conference.
Although she missed her first free throw of the season in the loss, Pedersen is still shooting 94% at the line. She is also shooting just under 55% from 3-point range this season, a mark that ranks third in the country.
Entering the week, Pedersen was the only Division 1 player in out of 466 qualified athletes who was shooting 90% or better from the free throw line and better than 50% from 3-point range. On the season, Pedersen is second in the MW with 17.1 points per game and shooting 52.5-percent from the floor. Her 2.13 3-pointers made per game are sixth in the league.
Through eight games this season, Alvar and Sandvik average 8.3 and 8.0 points per game, respectively.
Payton Muma leads the team with 23 assists and 13 steals. Symons, meanwhile, leads Wyoming averaging 4.5 rebounds per game while Lana Beslic’s 4.4 boards per game and 19 assists are both second on the squad.
This month, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, is a fitting time for reflection. Our focus turns toward family and community, and the changing weather causes us to slow down. It is a good time to take stock of the society around us. The Thanksgiving holiday naturally turns our minds to what we are grateful for — what already exists that we cherish. Christmas is a holiday of hope, focused on the promise of what is yet to come. With these holidays in mind, let us reflect on what parts of our state we are thankful for and hopeful about.
Perhaps the thing Wyomingites hold most dear is our heritage. Culturally, we are descended from pioneers and settlers — or from those who came before — and we take that frontier heritage to heart. We value independence, community and overcoming challenges. We are willing to endure hardship to build a life that we want, and we are closely attuned to the natural world and the benefits that it provides. Above all else, we know that our perch in this place is still precarious. These are perspectives that are hard to find elsewhere. They set us apart. By embracing these values, we create a society that fits our circumstances. These ideas would not fit in other places, but they fit here, and for that I am grateful.
I am also thankful for the good stewardship of our forefathers. Wyoming is a harsh place and it’s challenging to thrive here. Most of our land is arid and inhospitable, our physical conditions are difficult, and we are remote from most modern conveniences and luxuries. With poor planning or shortsighted leadership, this place could easily fall into decline.
Fortunately, we have been blessed with the opposite. The state’s early settlers understood the importance of building the infrastructure that would allow for growth. When it became clear that natural resources would power our economy, our leaders decided to set aside large portions of the state’s mineral revenue to support us in perpetuity. The easy decision — the short-sighted decision — would have been to spend those dollars on the needs of the day. They certainly could have built some nice things, and those projects would have been popular. They also would have been fleeting. Because of wise leadership and decisions that focused on the long-term, we all benefit from our state’s bounty.
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Just as we are grateful for the good decisions of the past, we should be hopeful for the future. Despite our state’s challenges, there are many good reasons to have hope. First, our state is full of opportunity. We have space, natural resources, and the ability to be nimble when it comes to building regulatory structures that can support new industries. Our people are hard-working and determined. We have existing expertise in manufacturing and mining that is missing in many other parts of the country. Our climate and location give Wyoming an advantage in attracting computing facilities to locate here. If we take advantage of the opportunities in front of us, Wyoming is poised to thrive, and that gives me hope.
I am also hopeful because there appears to be a growing consensus on the issues we face, which allows us to better meet these challenges. In surveys and conversations about Wyoming’s future, the challenges of economic diversification and talent retention quickly rise to the top. We recognize where our weaknesses are, which is a significant part of the battle. Once we agree on the problem, we can work to find solutions.
Finding a fix is often an easier undertaking than identifying the problem itself. Already, drilling into these challenges has helped us recognize the underlying problems connected to affordable housing, livable spaces, health care access and education. Understanding how these fit together and how improvements in one area can lead to improvements in others puts us on a much more manageable path. It will still not be easy to overcome our hurdles, but the fact that we must wrestle with difficult problems is not unusual or unique. We have answered big questions before. Now that we have a growing consensus on what those problems are, I am far more hopeful about our ability to move forward.
In this holiday season, we should take the time to contemplate the world around us. Self-reflection is important. We should look both behind us and ahead of us, toward the past and gratitude and the future and hope. Our state gives us plenty to consider on both accounts.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Department of Transportation has reported that the ongoing high wind speeds throughout the state have caused 39 vehicles to crash on Wyoming highways so far this week, primarily between Dec. 9 and Dec. 11.
According to a report from WYDOT, most of the crashes occurred on Interstate 80 near Cooper Cove west of Laramie, on I-25 on Wyo Hill south of Cheyenne and along I-25 near Wheatland at Bordeaux. Many blown-over vehicles were underweight, and some trailers were even empty.
WYDOT updates the minimum weights listed on overhead digital messaging signs based on real-time wind speeds. Drivers are encouraged to check weight-based wind closure information often to ensure travel is permitted.
It’s not just commercial vehicles that are at risk, either; the department reports that campers, toy-haulers and other large trailers are also susceptible to blowing over in strong winds.
