DID you hear the one about the randy bull and the helicopter crew?

No, we’re not about to launch into a blue joke but one of the more unusual (and amusing) rescues by the fliers of HMS Gannet.

The overly-amorous bull was chasing his intended conquest around the fields of Tom-na-Dhubh farm in Argyll and Bute when it slipped, fell into a ditch and injured its leg (Typical male – Ed).

Unable to shift the wounded Casanova, the farmer called upon the services of Gannet’s SAR team for what proved to be a less than orthodox rescue.

First the creature had to be dug out of the mud – less than easy as it weighed about a tonne – before a net could be secured around it.

With the net in place, the animal was rather unceremoniously hauled through the air slung 100ft below a Sea King Mk5 until it was gently set down at the farm about a mile away, where a vet was waiting to treat it.