Over the weekend, New Zealand was pummeled by a severe storm system that caused widespread flooding across the country.

It was so bad that states of emergency were declared, and people forced to evacuate their homes, in multiple cities.

But while hoomans have many means of escape at their disposal, such as military transport vehicles...

Tap to play or pause GIF Tap to play or pause GIF

...what about small fluffy animals that aren't used to swimming???

For these wild rabbits, the solution was hopping on the backs of sheep as they were ushered to higher ground.

Ferg Horne, 64, spotted the crafty rabbits while rescuing 40 of his neighbor's sheep from the floodwaters on Saturday at their South Island farm near Dunedin. He told the Associated Press he saw two rabbits on one sheep and a third on another, clinging to their wool.

“I couldn’t believe it for a start,” he said.

Horne added that the rabbits looked wet but comfortable and relaxed atop their woolly rescuers.

Rabbits are considered pests by New Zealand's farmers, so Horne typically shoots them if he spots them. But not so in this case.

"They’d showed so much initiative," he told the AP, "I thought they deserved to live, those rabbits."