WINFIELD TWP — A group of rattled cattle that broke out of a farm on Winfield Road last week were rounded up after being on the lam for several days.

Kevin and Linda Mathias finally were able to corral their eight cows Saturday with the aid of other farmers.

The couple awoke on the morning of Jan. 6 to find the heifers gone from their 100-acre farm.

Linda Mathias said her husband saw no sign of the young cows, just the sections of fence where they broke out.

“He realized they were not anywhere,” she said.

The farm's two older cows stayed home.

Kevin and Linda Mathias presumed the two coyotes they saw that morning startled the livestock.

“They were spooked,” Linda Mathias said.

She said there was no trace of the cows because snow came after they fled, covering their tracks.

“They could have gone any direction,” Mathias said.

The couple and their children, who were home from college, searched by foot and car for any sign of the herd.

Linda Mathias said they were concerned the heifers, who were at the farm for only three weeks, would not find their way back.

By afternoon, the cattle were spotted in a field approaching Sarver, 2.5 miles from the farm.

“We tried to coax them to a nearby barn,” Linda Mathias said.

However, the headstrong heifers would not comply.

“They were feeling their oats,” Linda Mathias said. “They're like a bunch of teenagers.”

The brash bovines then bolted for the woods.

“There was no reasoning with them that day,” she said.

The cows stayed out of sight the next day.

According to Linda Mathias, the cattle acted on instinct by hiding from predators in a sheltered area, likely eating oak leaves and acorns, and drinking from Little Buffalo Creek.

She said the longer cows are away from humans, the more scared they become, perceiving people as predators.

On the third day, the heifers were seen in Cabot.

“At least they were coming the right way,” Linda Mathias said.

Friday yielded no success trying to get the rebellious herd to cooperate.

On Saturday morning 10 people accompanied the Mathiases to round up the livestock.

After an arduous effort, which included the 400-to-500 pound heifers hoofing it onto a frozen pond, the posse steered the brazen bovines into another Winfield farmer's barn.

“It took us four hours,” Linda Mathias said.

After the cows were fed hay and given water, they were loaded onto a trailer for a ride home.

Linda Mathias said it was a relief to nab all eight heifers without losing any to accident or illness.

“They're fine so far,” she said.

Each heifer is worth roughly $800.

“It's a nice chunk of change,” Linda Mathias said.

She described the nearly weeklong hunt for the escapees as a harrowing experience.

“I think we all aged 10 years,” she said.

She expressed gratitude to the numerous people who helped by calling with reports of the cattle's progress and those who helped in the search, including the Boltz, Fox, Kennedy, Lang and Logan families.

“It's an example of a community working together,” she said.