A brave cowboy managed to wrangle a bovine on a busy highway and prevent it from becoming burger meat.
Ricky Littlejohn and his horse Bucky saved lives on the Interstate-75 near Detroit, Michigan, when a stray cow managed to breach the highway, despite a heavy police presence aimed to deter the animal.
The cow, Lester, managed to escape it’s pasture several weeks ago, after being abandoned by the farm’s owners for six weeks.
Littlejohn, who is a professional wrangler, was dispatched to help when Lester was located near a gravel pit along the highway last week.
The 1200 pound steer was dangerously close to the I-75, so they called the Michigan State Police to manage traffic control.
“A team of wranglers comprised of men and women comparable to the cast of Yellowstone attempted to wrangle a cow that was stuck in a gravel pit on Belford Rd,” the department said in a statement. “Troopers stayed on standby to stop traffic on I 75 if necessary.”
They said that the wranglers, who were both on horseback and four wheelers, were “unsuccessful in their attempts” to capture Lester in the grassy knoll.
“The cow managed to outsmart its advisories, and entered the northbound lanes of I-75,” the department detailed.
“The wranglers chased the cow with four wheelers, horses, and lassos across all lanes of travel. Troopers shut down north and southbound lanes of I-75 for safety.”
That’s when Littlejohn and Bucky charged after Lester, which was a huge feat, considering the Bucky had horse shoes on his, which make it extremely slippery for a horse to run on concrete.
“It’s like a skating rink when you are running across there so we had to be really careful we didn’t wipe out ourselves and keep everybody safe while we got the job done,” Littlejohn explained.
In the amazing video, which was caught on Michigan State Police dashcam, Lester precariously darts onto the highway with Littlejohn in pursuit as cars whiz past.
The state trooper pulls out into traffic to prevent traffic from smashing into the animal, as Littlejohn expertly spins a lasso and manages to loop it around Lester’s neck.
A four wheeler ushered the captured bovine into the the grassy median and safely out of the harm of traffic.
“Eventually after much tom foolery, the critter was captured and removed from the freeway,” the department cheekily tweeted.
“Troopers reopened the freeway and things quickly got back to normal. The bovine was not charged and is back in the pasture with a story to tell all the other livestock.”
Littlejohn told “Fox & Friends” that he was “nervous” about the wrangling effort, but “really impressed” by his young steed.
“This was a pretty big job for him to go do, but I’ve taken him and did some practicing with him and he really came in pretty clutch,” he remarked.
“He [hoofed it] right in the middle of him and let me put a rope on him, I couldn’t be more happier.”
Littlejohn also noted that the video went unexpectedly viral and he’s been receiving a lot of attention because of it.
“My phone has been non-stop since the day we caught the cow, between Facebook messages, text messages, phone calls,” the everyday hero explained.
“All my friends blowing me up and everybody is telling me I’m the ‘new Yellowstone’ and it’s just funny.”
