By Associated Press, 08/24/01

ELLENSBURG, Wash. -- When Justin Henderson lost his wallet on the farm last summer while fluffing hay for his uncle, the likelihood of recovering it seemed as remote as finding a needle in a haystack.

The hay, with the wallet bound up somewhere inside, was sold to ACX Pacific, a company that exports hay from central Washington to Japan.

That's where it was found by one of Megumi Ohshida's hungry dairy cows in the province of Tohoku in northern Japan. It was returned, with a note from Oshida.

"The purse has traveled a very long way over Pacific Ocean and was found by a mother cow. I believe that the purse is a very lucky one."

The only evidence of the wallet's travels was a little snip off the corner where the cow had chewed it, Henderson said.