Watch as 4-H steer on loose runs wrong way on OR highway after swimming across river
A runaway steer seemed determined to get as far away from its home as possible — jumping two fences, swimming across a river and running the wrong way on an Oregon highway to evade capture, troopers said.
The steer made a break from a property in Washington, first jumping a 5-foot tall fence, then a 3-foot tall barbed wire fence, and was on the run for several days before anglers spotted it heading up the bank of the Columbia River toward Interstate 84 near the Hood River, Oregon State Police said in a Jan. 3 post on Instagram.
Video shows the animal trotting down the eastbound lane’s shoulder in the opposite direction of traffic as someone chases after the loose steer.
Several drivers tried to help corral the steer to keep it off the freeway, but it jumped the median to escape, troopers said.
Next the steer headed toward railroad tracks and walked several miles and through a tunnel before the animal encountered a young woman who stopped calmly in front of it, authorities said.
The steer stopped, stared at her and “collapsed from exhaustion,” troopers said. It was loaded into a horse trailer and taken to a property nearby until his owners arrived to pick him up.
Troopers did not provide information about the steer’s owners but said it belongs to a 4-H program that allows youth to raise livestock and learn about the agricultural industry.
The agency thanked the Hood River Police Department for “their assistance and roping skills,” as well as the Union Pacific Railroad for “slowing and stopping trains in the area during the rescue.”
“Cowboy up OSP!! Wrangle that traffic jam!!!” someone said in the comments under the video on Facebook.
“Yee haw! Way to wrangle,” someone said on Instagram.
The incident occurred about 65 miles northeast of Portland.
This story was originally published January 6, 2025 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Watch as 4-H steer on loose runs wrong way on OR highway after swimming across river."
