Yes, there is a cow carcass floating in floodwaters near Waterfront Park

Waterfront Park appears to be serving as a temporary watery grave.

A cow — that is, a bloated bovine carcass — washed up near the Great Lawn as the Ohio River rose with the rain. Its body floated Thursday morning in a flooded inlet that would normally be a grassy area.

Rumors of the cow's existence spread earlier in the week, with a photo of the cow posted to Facebook on Tuesday afternoon, racking up more than 1,700 shares. Harold Adams, a public works spokesman, said they were aware of the dead cow but weren't immediately able to remove it.

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"Because the cow is still largely submerged in and surrounded by water, we can't really access it right now," he said. "We have to wait until the water (recedes) a bit and then we will remove it."

The city's dead animal removal team, which is part of the Solid Waste Division of Metro Public Works, would be responsible for removing the animal from the water, Adams said. The team has handled large animals in the past, including at least one horse.

But in his four years on the job, this is the first time Adams has heard of a large animal floating upon the banks of the river.

From Jan. 1 to Dec. 15 last year, the team had 2,308 service requests for dead animals. Of those, 107 were duplicate reports on the same animal and in 457 cases, nothing was found at the reported site.

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Some on social media expressed disgust or disbelief at Bessie's watery grave. Others cracked jokes.

"Half price beef at Joes Crab Shack!" one person commented on Facebook.

It was not immediately clear when the cow may have reached Waterfront Park from wherever it began its river journey, but one Facebook user posted a second photo in the comments and suggested they'd seen it floating there over the weekend.

"Whoa! End of Times!" one person commented on Facebook.

"For the cow," another responded.

Darcy Costello: 502-582-4834; dcostello@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @dctello. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/darcyc.