Let this be a warning to these of you who lengthy to hit the open highway with a 2,200-pound steer driving shotgun: Observe all visitors legal guidelines, particularly when passing via Norfolk, Neb.
Lee Meyer, 63, a retired machinist, discovered that lesson on Wednesday.
For seven years, Mr. Meyer has been chauffeuring his 2,200-pound Watusi-longhorn combine named Howdy Doody with its horns and head uncovered to the open air in a personalized Ford Crown Victoria with the license plate “Boy Dog.”
But he had by no means been stopped by the police, he mentioned, till Wednesday morning as he drove Howdy Doody into Norfolk from his 15-acre ranch south of Neligh, about 35 miles away.
Mr. Meyer had simply turned off the freeway on what was alleged to be a check run in preparation for Howdy Doody’s look at Norfolk’s Oktoberfest when he observed a police automotive behind him had turned on its flashing lights.
Someone had reported “a vehicle driving down the road with a cow in it,” Capt. Chad Reiman, of the Norfolk Police Division, mentioned.
“The assumption was it was a calf — something smaller that would fit in a vehicle,” Captain Reiman mentioned.
But the officer discovered Mr. Meyer and his massive steer in a automotive that had its roof, door, again seat and windshield partly eliminated and its shock absorbers and body bolstered to accommodate the beast’s huge girth and weight.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” Captain Reiman mentioned, “and I’ve never seen anything like it on the road before.”
The officer gave Mr. Meyer warnings that his automobile had an obstructed view and an unsecured load however didn’t cite him for any visitors violations, Captain Reiman mentioned.
“He was simply asked to take the animal home and take it out of the city,” Captain Reiman mentioned.
Mr. Meyer, who lives in a metropolis of about 1,500, mentioned he was not stunned that he had run into some issues in Norfolk, a metropolis of about 26,000 residents, roughly 115 miles northwest of Omaha.
“It’s so shocking to people, I guess, sometimes that they don’t know what to do,” he mentioned. “And the bigger the town you go to, the more stiff-necked they are, for lack of a better word. I’ve been to plenty of towns that are a lot smaller and nobody has had any problems with it.”
Mr. Meyer purchased Howdy Doody from a breeder in Ohio about eight years in the past. He additionally has a longhorn named Maybelle and 6 bison.
“It’s just a hobby,” he mentioned. “Kids grew up, had to do something. Grandkids said it was a bad idea. I said grandpa’s going to do it anyway.”
Mr. Meyer mentioned that Howdy Doody enjoys being pushed to parades.
Mr. Meyer makes use of the Crown Victoria for nearer locations and a trailer for locations greater than 40 miles away. He mentioned he drives about 35 miles per hour on the freeway and that Howdy Doody, who wears a halter within the automotive, doesn’t startle on the highway.
“Not one time has he in seven years made an attempt to jump out or kick or struggle in any way,” Mr. Meyer mentioned.
Rhonda Meyer, Mr. Meyer’s spouse, mentioned her husband would typically cease at a fuel station and purchase Howdy Doody an ice cream.
“He’s the most spoiled steer in northeast Nebraska,” she mentioned.
David Gutshall, an insurance coverage agent in Norfolk, mentioned he was driving on the freeway on Wednesday after taking footage of a home when he got here up behind Mr. Meyer’s automotive with Howdy Doody’s head and horns poking out.
“I thought that can’t be a real bull,” he mentioned. “It can’t be real.”
But as he handed Mr. Meyer’s automotive, the steer turned its head and gazed impassively at Mr. Gutshall, he mentioned.
“It was like ‘Look at me, man,’” he mentioned. “He’s just totally calm, cool and just being a rock star, and like he knows it.”
Mr. Meyer mentioned his temporary brush with the regulation received’t cease him from driving Howdy Doody once more, though he now plans to skip Oktoberfest in Norfolk.
“I won’t go to Norfolk,” he mentioned. “But I will go to these other little towns around. They’re going to have to do a lot more to stop me.”
Source: www.nytimes.com