Four full-grown size cattle decided to go on an adventure after a trip to the veterinarian on Wednesday, March 24, in Tarkio. While being loaded back onto their trailer, a side door on the trailer popped open and the four made their escape and took off east of 1st Street and directly into a deep ditch filled with trees and brush debris. The ditch was completely covered with trees so two of the cows became trapped underneath. Veterinarian John Walter, the Tarkio Police Department, the Tarkio Street Department, and the Tarkio Board of Public Works spent two hours removing trees using a high loader in order to get the two stuck cows out. Tarkio Alderman Scott Poppa used his “cow whisperer” technique and was able to just walk the other two cows across the highway and into a trailer that was parked near the rodeo grounds while everyone worked to free the other two. Traffic was shut down on Hwy. 136 repeatedly for those two hours to keep everyone safe in case the cattle escaped the ditch and bolted out onto the highway. Eventually, the two trapped bovine were able to climb out of the ditch and were walked to the trailer where they joined their comrades. The Atchison County Sheriff’s Department and MoDOT also assisted.