Cowboy wrangles runaway cow on Michigan freeway after riding to the scene when he heard of the chaos

This is the bizarre moment a cowboy joined cops to chase down and wrangle a runaway cow rampaging down the middle of a busy highway.

Ricky Littlejohn and his trusty steed Bucky took to the Interstate-75 outside of Detroit, Michigan, in a real-life John Wayne moment to rescue the loose bovine.

The incredible moment was captured on a dashcam from a car behind as officers on four wheels – assisted by local cowboys – followed in pursuit of the rogue animal.

Riding Bucky, Littlejohn – who galloped down to the scene after hearing about the unfolding chaos on social media – swung his lasso above his head to try to rope in the charging animal.

The cow was rescued as police joked that ‘the bovine was not charged and is back in the pasture with a story to tell all the other livestock.’

The real-life John Wayne galloped up to the bovine to try and real the animal in as it made its way down the road

The bovine veered into the road, dodging and diving the passing traffic along the freeway

‘A team of wranglers comprised of men and women comparable to the cast of Yellowstone’ had already been deployed to rescue the bovine from a gravel pit on a nearby road before the animal fled the cops, Michigan State Police said in a statement on Twitter explaining the incredible moment.

The runaway cow had escaped down a grassy verge along the highway, before it veered into the road, dodging and diving the passing traffic.

Spotting that the animal might make a dash for it, police had already been stationed along the highway as a precaution.

‘The wranglers were on the shoulder of I-75 with horses and four wheelers when they attempted to capture the suspect bovine but were unsuccessful in their attempts,’ the state police said.

‘The cow managed to outsmart its advisories, and entered the northbound lanes of I-75.

‘The wranglers chased the cow with four wheelers, horses, and lassos across all lanes of travel. Troopers shut down north and southbound lanes of I-75 for safety.

Eventually Littlejohn and Bucky took their chance and reeled in the rampaging cow.

The rope flew over the bovine’s neck as Littlejohn slowed down. An officer on quadbike then rode up alongside the animal and cut it off onto the safety of a grassy lane. 

The runaway cow had escaped down a grassy verge along the highway

Bucky galloped along and Littlejohn swung his lasso above his head to try to rope in the charging animal

The rampaging cow was eventually reeled in an returned back to its owner following its adventurous excursion

Eventually Littlejohn and Bucky took their chance and reeled in the rampaging cow

The rope flew over the bovine’s neck as Littlejohn slowed down. An officer on quadbike then rode up alongside the animal and cut it off

The animal was diverted onto the safety of a grassy lane as the freeway was reopened

Officers were then able to reopen the freeway and things quickly got back to normal. 

After the bizarre event, Littlejohn told Fox News how proud he was of Bucky.

‘I was really impressed. This was a pretty big job for him to go do, but I’ve taken him and did some practicing with him and he really came in pretty clutch.’

The cowboy added: ‘When we started running across there, we got shoes on all of our horses and stuff and it’s like a skating rink when you are running across there so we had to be really careful we didn’t wipe out ourselves and keep everybody safe while we got the job done.’