When a cow gets lost in a field, typically no one notices, but when a calf got lost on Highway 79 in Henry County, the nation collectively watched.
Sheriff Monte Belew arrived on scene to a traffic jam because a baby calf, later identified by its owner as Patrick, was running across the busy highway.
“This is not a strange call to receive at all,” the Sheriff said about his mostly rural county.
“Our motto is that I say there’s no call we won’t take,” he added.
There’s also nothing he apparently won’t do to end a high speed pursuit on hoof.
“You just have to adapt and improvise to the situation at hand,” the Sheriff said.
In this case, improvising meant enlisting the help of a life long friend who just happens to wear cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. His name is David Bevill and he’s farmed in Henry County for most of his life.
David just happened to pull up on the scene Tuesday, and the Sheriff spotted him nearby.
“He hollers at me and asks ‘do you got a rope?’” explained Bevill.
David and the Sheriff quickly devised a plan. With no horse in sight, horse power seemed like the next best thing. David mounted the hood of the Sheriff’s patrol car, grabbed his rope and they began chasing the cattle.
“I’m just thinking don’t miss,” David explained in his thick southern accent.
In under a minute, the modern day cowboy duo had successfully lassoed in Patrick the lost baby calf.
“It was probably the best loop I’ve ever thrown in my life! It surprised us both!” David said, still in a bit of shock Wednesday.
“I’m just laughing and the steer is dragging him down the highway!” the Sheriff added.
By Wednesday, video of the ordeal had been viewed a few million times on Facebook, which seemed not to phase David.
“I’m not a Facebooker but my wife has told me it’s gone crazy,” he said.
Catching lost calves in Henry County, doesn’t mean waiting until the cows come home.
