GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) – A cow escaped a trailer on a Michigan highway Friday morning, surprising drivers and causing a slowdown before it was safely recaptured.
The incident happened around 8:50 a.m. in the northbound lanes of US-131 in Grand Rapids.
Tom Murphy, the senior road patrolman for the Kent County Road Commission, happened to be parked along a nearby on-ramp when he noticed traffic slowing. At first, he assumed it was a fender bender, he told Nexstar’s WOOD later on Friday.
“I start merging into traffic that was all backed up, and there’s this black Angus steer running toward us, toward my truck. And I thought, ‘That’s why the freeway’s messed up,'” Murphy said.
Murphy said the cow’s owners were hauling six animals in a trailer when a lock failed, a door opened and the steer jumped out. Video sent to WOOD by driver Bethany Patterson shows the cow jogging along the roadway while people tried to corral it. Some other drivers moved cautiously past the scene.
Murphy, luckily, has experience with cattle.
“My son and I raise some beef in Martin, Michigan, so not my first rodeo,” he joked.
With help from Murphy and a passing tow truck, the wranglers got the cow back onto its trailer.
“We went about catching this thing with our vehicles to make a pinch point to get it back onto the cattle hauler,” Murphy said. “He snuck through our trucks twice, where we had to reset up, and the third time we got him caught. … After the third try, we got him no place to go except for the center barrier wall, 131, and then back onto the cattle trailer.”
He said recapturing the steer took less than 10 minutes.
When all was said and done, Murphy said, the cow appeared fine. There hadn’t been any traffic accidents or injuries, either.
“All things considered, it couldn’t have happened any better,” Murphy said.
Having spent 34 years with the road commission, Murphy said Friday’s incident wasn’t the first time he’s had to deal with livestock in the road. He advised drivers to stay focused, slow down, and maintain their lane if they happen across animals while driving.
“Take care of safety first,” he said. “Don’t veer for deer, don’t veer for the steer.”
