Everything was pretty regular about Tuesday morning traffic on Interstate 93 in Canterbury. Then some cows joined in the rush.
State Trooper Josh Beauchemin noticed the four-legged, udder-carrying commuters as he drove past.
“Oh man,” he said. “It was right around 8 o clock. I happened upon them. The cows were running southbound on I-93 south. ”
Beauchemin stopped and called for back-up help with the unusual encounter. He counted eight cows total.
“It worked out good because the state police aircraft unit happened to be in the area as well,” he said. Even with troopers already on-scene, though, it seemed like passing drivers couldn’t resist making 911 calls about the critters.
“I think people were calling as we were out there,” Beauchemin said.
The troopers helped turn around the cows and herd them into the opposite direction, until they found the hole in the fence near Exit 18.
Photos of the operation show one trooper with his hands out, directing the lost bovines in the opposite direction. One cow in the middle of the herd is looking away and to the side – perhaps contemplating noncompliance.
But in the end, Beauchemin said, “They all stuck together and made their way back. All said and done, I would say everything took about a half hour.”
Canterbury Police Chief Mike Labrecque took the case from there, finding their owner, Stephen Cochrane, and making sure the fence got patched up.
Property tax records show Cochrane runs White Oaks Dairy Farm on West Road just off Exit 18. A call to his home was not returned.
Beauchemin said he’s not used to pulling over cows on the highway – though he has gone looking for escapees in the past. He added it was nice for Tuesday’s incident to have a happy ending.
“This is not a frequent problem – luckily – that we have,” Beauchemin said.
(Elodie Reed can be reached at 369-3306, ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @elodie_reed.)