Let this be a warning to those of you who long to hit the open road with a 2,200-pound steer riding shotgun: Observe all traffic laws, especially when passing through Norfolk, Neb.
Lee Meyer, 63, a retired machinist, learned that lesson on Wednesday.
For seven years, Mr. Meyer has been chauffeuring his 2,200-pound Watusi-longhorn mix named Howdy Doody with its horns and head exposed to the open air in a customized Ford Crown Victoria with the license plate “Boy Dog.”
But he had never been stopped by the police, he said, until Wednesday morning as he drove Howdy Doody into Norfolk from his 15-acre ranch south of Neligh, about 35 miles away.
Mr. Meyer had just turned off the highway on what was supposed to be a test run in preparation for Howdy Doody’s appearance at Norfolk’s Oktoberfest when he noticed a police car behind him had turned on its flashing lights.
Someone had reported “a vehicle driving down the road with a cow in it,” Capt. Chad Reiman, of the Norfolk Police Division, said.
“The assumption was it was a calf — something smaller that would fit in a vehicle,” Captain Reiman said.
But the officer found Mr. Meyer and his large steer in a car that had its roof, door, back seat and windshield partly removed and its shock absorbers and frame reinforced to accommodate the beast’s massive girth and weight.
Video at link: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/us/nebraska-watusi-bull-car.html