Scottish Highland Bull Roams Free in Rural Connecticut
KENT, Conn. (AP) — A Scottish Highland bull has become the talk of the town in western Connecticut, where it has been roaming the frigid winter landscape for over a month after escaping its enclosure.
Local residents have reported sporadic sightings, with a few in the past week, including one just over the town line in New Milford, according to Kent’s animal control officer, Lee Sohl.
“People keep spotting it without realizing that others are searching for it,” Sohl said in a phone interview Thursday. “When I get a call about a sighting, I notify the owner, and they rush out to try and catch it. But it’s difficult—it’s cold, and the bull is very scared.”
The bull’s owner, Jo Ann Joray, said several people have been out looking for the animal, but it remains elusive.
Social media photos of the wandering bull have sparked a mix of reactions, from sympathy and admiration to jokes about its potential as a steak dinner.
Stray farm animals aren’t unusual in the area, Sohl noted. “Cows, horses, goats—it happens. That’s just life here,” she said.
The bull’s saga has drawn comparisons to Buddy the beefalo, a bison hybrid that escaped in 2020 while en route to a slaughterhouse. Buddy roamed central Connecticut’s woods for months before being captured and relocated to a Florida animal sanctuary.
Scottish Highland cattle are a hardy breed capable of enduring extreme weather, according to the Highland Cattle Society in Scotland. That’s fortunate for the Connecticut bull, as temperatures have remained below freezing for several days.