Escaped bull stops traffic on old Murray Bridge
A livestock transporter thought he was taking this bull to Dublin. The bull had other ideas.
Mess with the bull in mid-morning traffic and you’ll get the horns – car horns.
This bull caused havoc on Murray Bridge’s old road bridge this morning after it broke out of a trailer around 9.30am.
An unfortunate livestock transporter was forced to chase it all the way across the bridge – dodging traffic – and up the old highway.
With help from local police, it was steered all the way up the hill to Murray Bridge Showground, about three kilometres away, where two stockmen took another hour to corral it.
Trudy Robinson witnessed much of the drama as she followed the bull across the bridge in her car.
“It basically demolished the tailgate of the trailer,” she said.
“It got out behind the court, on Railway Terrace, and ended up going over the bridge.
“They’re at the showgrounds now (at 9.45am) ... they’re getting some panels and trying to set up an area to catch the bull.”
Campers cowered in their caravans or watched from a distance as the panicky bull rampaged around the showground, with police cars and stockmen racing around trying to cut it off.
Campground visitor Faye Bolden, of Warrnambool, said she had encountered the bull twice during the morning – she got caught in the traffic jam on the bridge, then caught up in the police chase at the showground.
Camper Richard Brooks, from Adelaide, saw the humour in the situation.
“I said ‘do you want me to bring a red tea towel?’” he said.
The bull dented a gate, snapped a guy rope off an annexe and bumped into a camper van during the chase, but no-one was injured.
Eventually the pursuers were able to corner it down by the entrance to the basketball stadium, rig up a new tailgate for the trailer, and convince it to step back inside.
With a creak of metal and the beat of hoofs, it was all over, though the animal did not look too happy about it.
The bull had been bound for Alice Springs, via Dublin, after being picked up in Naracoorte earlier in the morning.
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