And just like that the cow was on the lam.
“It’s quite strange to see a cow in the middle of the roadway eating acorns,” said Sgt. Scott Whittemore, who along with a number of others officers went toe-to-hoof with the incorrigible heifer last week.
Whittemore was helping officer Ron Poirier finish up some paperwork at around 4:15 a.m. when the call came in: a cow was on the loose in the middle of Washington Street.
He (his trusty camera in hand), and officer Poirier hopped in their cruisers and headed off the scene. When they arrived they found Star calmly nibbling the fallen nuts.
A few years back Whittemore said he’d come across a similar scene, complete with another escaped cow. That time the cow had run away when they attempted to corner it so he was inclined to handle the situation cautiously. Poirier was a bit more gung-ho.
“Ron grabbed a bunch of acorns and approached it slowly and he was able to make contact with the cow,” Whittemore said. “After we established that the cow wasn’t going to go anywhere another officer shot down to the farm and woke the people up there.”
While a third officer drove his cruiser alongside Star (to make sure she wouldn’t run out further into the road) Poirier slowly drew the cow back to the pasture.
“We kind of coaxed it along with the acorns,” Whittemore said. “Officer Poirier did a fantastic job and we managed to get it back in the corral.”
It was only after Star was safely back in her pen that Poirier explained he’d worked on a farm as a kid.
While Whittemore is no stranger to odd animal sightings (he captured a battle between a skunk and a fox over the summer) Star’s escape made for an exciting shift.
“It’s extremely unusual,” Whittemore said. “Not something you expect to see—even in the middle of the night on the night watch.”
(Wellesley Townsman - Oct 5, 2010)
