CORINTH – A 58-year-old farmhand at Libby Dairy Farm avoided serious injury after he was head-butted by a heifer Monday evening, officials said.

The cow was in the pasture and was trying to rise onto her feet when the man bent over, Corinth ambulance chief Dave Easler said Monday night. The result was a forehead-to-forehead collision that sent the man reeling. He was not identified Monday night for patient confidentiality reasons.

The man rolled down a 30-foot embankment to a dry, rocky creek bed, Easler said. The cow chased after the man but left when he did not get up.

“He knew enough not to move, and the cow figured it couldn’t do any more damage and walked off,” Easler said. Other farmworkers found the man, who initially reported that his legs felt tingly.

Officials received a report that the man had been attacked by the cow and feared he might have been kicked or trampled; they were relieved to find the man conscious and without serious injury, Easler said.

The man was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Bangor for evaluation.