Cowboy motorist helps Mass. troopers lasso 2 cows

[December 02, 2009]  SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) -- Two cows have escaped from a trailer onto a busy Massachusetts highway, but a cowboy stuck in the traffic jam has come to the rescue.

State police say a man wearing a Western hat and boots lassoed the 500-pound heifers Tuesday morning as they wandered on Interstate 91 South in Springfield, one of the state's biggest cities.

Troopers shut down the highway for about 30 minutes as the man helped load the animals back into a trailer that was carrying them to nearby Enfield, Conn.

The cows had escaped into slow-moving traffic after a latch on the trailer opened.

Police say the cowboy doesn't want to be publicly identified.

[Associated Press]

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