Marshfield runaway cows outwit police – so they call in a cowboy with a lasso
Two large black cows escaped a property in Marshfield, Massachusetts, and kept bolting into dense woods whenever police got close. A cattle dog failed, so officers enlisted a man bringing his horse and lasso from a couple of hours away.
Two runaway cows have been running rings round the police in Marshfield, Massachusetts – and officers have now had to send for a man with a horse and a lasso.
According to the Boston Globe, Marshfield Police posted on Facebook on Thursday (5 Nov) that “two large cows” had escaped a property near Ferry Street and Main Street. Officers tried to round them up, but every time they got close, the pair simply trotted off into the trees.
“They’re running straight into a densely wooded area and it’s impossible to get them in that terrain,” Sgt Liam Rooney told the Globe.
Stock photo: a black Angus cow in Wisconsin – not the actual Marshfield cows. Photo: Wikideas1 / CC0 (via Wikimedia Commons, 30 Aug 2023).
A man with a cattle dog turned up on Thursday to help – to no avail. So police are now working with a man who is bringing his horse and lasso from “a couple hours away”, in the hope of leading the cows home.
AI illustration – imagined great cow escape; not a real photograph.
The cheekiest twist: on Thursday night, one of the cows actually wandered back home to the Main Street property – then took off again the next morning. The owner is still trying to work out where they keep slipping past the fence. Town Administrator Ted Langill said officials had identified the owner, UPI reports.
Reports differed on Friday: UPI said a police post had revealed one cow had been captured. But Marshfield Police’s latest update on Friday night, quoted by Universal Hub, said both cows were still at large, often wandering on Route 3A between the Marshfield Fair and St. Christine’s Church. Both are entirely black, which makes them very hard to see at night, at dusk or in the rain. Police are asking drivers to take extreme care and, if they spot the cows, not to approach them but to report where they are.
AI illustration – spot Gaz, our gorilla, hiding somewhere in this picture.
Locals, naturally, took it all very seriously. “This is a high steaks incident, so hold off on the ribbing,” wrote Steve Murray of Marshfield on Facebook, according to the Globe.
Two cows, one cattle dog, a whole police department and now a cowboy: it’s 2–0 to the cows so far.
Reported by the Boston Globe (Claire Thornton); also UPI (6 Nov) and Universal Hub (6 Nov). Also covered by Wicked Local.
