WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) -- A herd of cattle might've slowed down your commute on Thursday morning.
A tractor-trailer carrying more than 80 cows overturned on U.S. 52 at I-40, closing the road for hours. Ten cows escaped. One is still on the loose. It was last seen off U.S. 421 near Salem Lake.
The cow was once thought to be near Peachtree Street. The search was the talk of the town.
“I was gonna put it in my fence to hold onto it...and then I was gonna dial 911 because that’s a lot of beef, but I can’t eat all that," said Iona Smith, who lives on Peachtree.
The missing cow is part of a larger group that escaped when the truck overturned at about 4:00 a.m. Thursday.
"Ten cattle, initially when the tractor-trailer overturned, were able to get out of the trailer, and they were roaming throughout the area around Highway 52 and 40," said Joe Ramsey, the battalion chief with the Winston-Salem Fire Department.
Crews worked for hours corralling the cows. Three even made their way to the Bojangles on Waughtown Street.
“You can expect the unexpected, but not that at all," said Travis Squire, the general manager of the restaurant.
Squire was working at the time.
"We see a cop, and then we see two more, and we see a herd of cattle just cross our way," he said. "At the same time, it’s like miraculous because like a whole hour they’re just going up and down the street just with...three cows.”
Customers in the drive-thru at about 5:30 a.m. were greeted by the grazers looking for a bite to eat.
“I thought it was Chick-fil-A," Squire said. "They went to one part of the grass and ate, went to another part of the grass and ate. They were just hungry.”
People in the neighborhood kept an eye out for the cow all afternoon.
"I would probably try to call it in like a little dog," Smith said. "That’s about all. I’d treat it just like he was my own little pet.”
Police haven't said what caused the crash. The driver of the truck wasn't hurt.
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