Cowabunga!

A herd of cattle escaped from a farm at 11th Street and Lammers Road and overran a western Tracy neighborhood before they were corralled Thursday, June 17.

The 100 Holstein cows broke out from the ranch early Thursday morning and headed south, wandering east across more than 2 miles of open fields before they found an opening to Babcock Lane.

The cows headed down Babcock Lane, leaving a trail of droppings in the roadway and on the neighborhood’s sidewalks and lawns. Tracy Police Department officers responded to numerous 9-1-1 calls from residents as the animals crowded the streets.

Police and animal control officers stopped the herd’s progress near Alamo and Barcelona drives, where the cattle were driven back to the open fence line. Officers herded them into an open field next to the houses, where they waited for ranch hands to take the animals back to the farm.

A street sweeper was expected to remove droppings from the road, and neighbors were busy washing down sidewalks to remove traces of the cattle drive through their neighborhood.

The animals are thought to have gained their freedom through an 8-foot section of downed fence line around their pasture. According to the police scanner, the cattle belonged to Ernie Pombo.