PITTSFIELD – When spring is in the air, the thoughts of all God’s creatures turn to love.

Or at least that is what police here are blaming for a three-day adventure involving loose cows and bulls from two area farms frolicking in several locations, including all over Interstate 95.

The rodeo began three days ago, on Tuesday night, when drivers began reporting that there were cows on the interstate by exit 38.

Animal Control Officer Rick Curtis said the “cows” turned out to be four bulls. There were no close calls with motorists, he said, but it took quite awhile to round up the lovesick animals and get them back in a nearby pasture.

On Wednesday afternoon, the boys escaped again. This time, local police were called to get the bulls back in the barn.

On Thursday, Curtis and Police Officer Chad Curtis spent much of the morning corralling 11 cows on Spring Road, nearby the interstate.

The officers said they were confident that the two groups of animals “never got together.”

By Thursday afternoon, the rodeo score was bulls, 4; cows, 11; and zero for those trying to round them up.

“I’ve hit the dirt more times today, running in the woods,” Officer Chad Curtis said, laughing. “Those foolish critters.”

The cow rodeo was made less complicated, Animal Control Officer Curtis explained, with the use of a map he created for dispatchers and police officers.

“It shows each farm that has cows and its location,” he said, “so if we get a report of animals in the road, we know who the owner likely is.”

The map may help find the bovine owners, he said, but it is old-fashioned running, yelling and waving of arms that gets the wanderers back where they belong.

Catching his breath between roundups, Chad Curtis commented on the need for electric fences to discourage the lovelorn, saying, “The only thing those cows understand is electricity.”