Wandering white cow haunts stretch of I-95

PITTSFIELD – Last week it was a coyote. This week, it’s a cow. A big cow. A big white cow with horns.

The forces of nature are causing havoc on Interstate 95 in Pittsfield.

Last week one, possibly two, accidents were caused by an extremely large coyote crossing the interstate near the rest areas. One car hit the coyote and the driver went to the rest area to report the accident. A second car, its driver likely spooked by the giant carcass in the roadway, swerved and ended up rolling over two times.

Both accidents resulted in minor injuries, but state and local police are concerned that a cow now roaming in the same area could cause a more serious collision.

Motorists began reporting the elusive bovine last Friday, and police who went to the area have spotted the animal, but it has fled into the woods each time.

The cow has been seen wandering in the median, munching grass along the shoulders and tromping into nearby woods.

Maine state troopers have been unable to round up the animal. Local police have had no better luck. Animal control officers say they have no idea who owns the cow.

“No one has reported a missing cow,” Trooper Chris Carr said Tuesday. Carr has been called to the interstate repeatedly over the last five days.

“We’re just afraid someone is going to get killed,” he said.

The cow has been spotted repeatedly around mile marker 153, near the Pittsfield-Palmyra town line, said Carr. The trooper suggested that motorists in the area be particularly alert.

An attempt to have a local cattle dealer catch and remove the cow on Monday night failed.