That might have been strange enough, but their uninvited guest was a two-year-old heifer in calf called Honeysuckle.Lizzie and Jamie Mercer and their children George (8) and Bethan (1) opened the curtains last Thursday to find Honeysuckle lounging in the shallow end.
‘I looked out of the window and saw the cow in the pool and another one sitting by the side.
I went running back to the bedroom and said ”There’s a cow in the pool”” and Jamie said, ”Pull the other one – it’s got bells on it.”The cow had wandered in the garden of the house off Rue de la Mare Bellam and ended up in the pool.’It was quite amazing because she had fallen in the deep end – you could tell because there were footprints in the pool cover – and swam to the shallow end,’ said Mrs Mercer, née Taylor, who grew up and still has family in Jersey.’She seemed perfectly happy – the pool was heated.’After discovering the stranded beast, the family, who now live in Perth, phoned the owner of the house, who was in France, and managed to find out who the cows belonged to.
The farmer, John Perchard, of La Commune, St Saviour, arrived with several friends to try to free the cow.
After some discussion, they decided to call the Fire Service.Firefighters used pallet boards weighted down with breeze blocks and eventually, with a little heaving and nudging from the helpful humans, Honeysuckle emerged from the pool.Mr Perchard said she was one of two which escaped on Wednesday night.
Despite searching late into the night they could not find her and thought they would resume the search in the morning.He said the cow was unhurt during her ordeal and is now happily back in her pasture.
She is due to give birth in December.
As a reward for their help finding and freeing Honeysuckle, Mr Perchard has agreed to let the family name the calf.’I think we should call her Chlorina,’ said George Mercer.
