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Ranchers worried after cattle stranded on Payson Mountain during Bald Mountain, Pole Creek fires

Posted at 10:03 PM, Sep 16, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-17 07:44:45-04

UTAH COUNTY, Utah -- Cattle ranchers in Utah county are among the approximately 6,000 evacuees that have been pushed from their homes or are desperately trying to recover their livestock in the smoky depths of the Bald Mountain and Pole Creek fires.

As both of these fires continue to spread, shutting down main roads, one West Mountain family, Bailey and Tyson Wilson, are extremely concerned for their 70 head of mother/baby cattle that are still unaccounted for and wandering on Payson Mountain.

“The mama cow is worth roughly about $1000 and the baby can sell about that. So we’re looking at about $2000 a head,” Bailey Wilson told Fox 13 Sunday.

The Wilson family says like many others, they don’t have insurance, so every head of cattle lost is money right out of their pocket and gone forever.

“We are just praying....every head that we’re getting is just kind of a miracle,” Wilson said.

Losing cattle isn’t the only fear of cattle ranchers right now. To hear more of the about struggles ranchers face, watch the story above.