“It was pretty steep.”
Adventurer Spots Stranded Bull at Base of Cliff — And Climbs Down to Save Him
As a vanlifer and travel enthusiast, Nathan Martinelli thrives on the thrill of the unknown. But nothing could have prepared him for the moment he spotted a massive figure trapped at the bottom of a steep, rocky cliffside.
“When I looked down, I saw the cow looking right up at me,” Martinelli said in a video for The Dodo. “It was pretty steep, and you could see where the cow went down and fell.”
Apprehensive but determined to help, Martinelli made his way down the cliff to the rocky shoreline. Once there, he grabbed a large shell and began carving out makeshift steps in the cliff face. With no tools and no time to waste, this was his best chance at guiding the animal to safety.
“I knew if that cow didn’t want to get up, there was no way I could get him up,” he said.
Step by step, Martinelli demonstrated the path upward. The stranded bull watched carefully, then started to climb — slowly at first, then more confidently. Before long, he had passed Martinelli, who was still halfway up the cliff.
“I was under him,” Martinelli said. “I knew if he would have slipped, he would have taken me out with him.”
There was a tense moment when the bull veered off the path, but he managed to correct course, guided by encouraging calls from Martinelli’s friend at the top. Moments later, the bull hauled himself up over the final ledge and stood safely on solid ground.
Without hesitation, he trotted off across the grass to rejoin his herd — leaving behind a trail of hoofprints and one very relieved rescuer.
“I was just so excited,” Martinelli said, reflecting on the rescue. “It was wild.”