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A pair of young cattle kept first responders hoofing it Monday night after they hopped a fence and went on the lam along the icy North Saskatchewan River.

The hours-long chase involved multiple fire crews, two ranchers on horseback and even a police helicopter, Edmonton Fire Rescue Services spokeswoman Maya Filipovic said Tuesday.

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Two women who farm in the Rabbit Hill area to the southwest of the city had recently purchased a pair of one-year-old calves, which jumped a five-foot-high fence and ran off into the brush along the river, Filipovic said.

The ice along the river was thick enough for the calves to travel on. The cows’ owners attempted to follow them on horseback, but were eventually stopped by thick brush and called firefighters for help about 9 p.m.

Photo by Ian Kucerak Ian Kucerak / Ian Kucerak/Postmedia

The service dispatched a “couple” of crews and a district chief, Filipovic said.

The firefighters tried to spot the fast-moving cows from the riverbank, to no avail. Eventually, the district chief spotted them near the Blackhawk golf course and Air 2, one of the city’s police helicopters, was called in and trained a spotlight on the fugitive cattle.