HOUSTON – Some days, Houston area traffic can be a nightmare. Other days, it can be a zoo, literally.
A cow and an alligator caused traffic delays on Wednesday during separate incidents in which the animals took themselves for a spin on Houston area roadways.
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At around 8 a.m., the cow was spotted moving along Interstate 10 in east Houston, stopping traffic during morning rush hour. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted that a pedestrian tried to rope the cow.
The sheriff office’s livestock unit later arrived at the scene and was able to get the cow to a nearby cemetery, where it was loaded onto a trailer and reunited with its owners. The cow, which was unharmed, had escaped from a nearby farm.
Stefany Ramirez told KPRC, KSAT’s sister station in Houston, that she had just bought the cow, named Star, on Tuesday.
She noticed Star broke out of the front gate on Wednesday morning.
“I think she was trying to get home,” Ramirez said.
A few hours later, a not fast but furious alligator parked itself on the shoulder of a busy bridge near the Houston suburb of Baytown. At least one lane of traffic was blocked as several officers, including members of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, placed a rope around the reptile’s neck. After the alligator wrestled and spun on the ground, officers held it down as its mouth was taped shut.
KTRK-TV reported the alligator was put in the back of a truck and was taken to a nearby waterway, where it was released.