Cows on loose cause traffic mayhem on Ontario highway during cottage exodus
Picture this: You've finally finished work for the week and are headed up north from Toronto for the Victoria Day long weekend. (And the sun is shining, to boot!) But, just as you manage to escape the city's bounds in the midst of early Friday rush hour, your journey is interrupted by a wayward herd of cows, of all things.
This was the reality for drivers on Highway 400 — the main route between the city and Ontario cottage country — on the afternoon of May 16.
Given that this is the busiest weekend of the year for trips to Muskoka and other such locales and the time most cottage owners open their properties for the season, drivers were likely not pleased to encounter even more delays than expected.
Ontario Provincial Police tweeted to warn residents about the rogue farm animals shortly before 3 p.m., simply stating that there were cattle wandering around the 400 between Highway 9/Davis Drive and Aurora Rd.
"Heavy delays in both directions," the force wrote, adding that the Aurora detachment was actively "working with the owners to get them to a safe place."
Cows on #Hwy400 between Hwy9 and Aurora Rd.
— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) May 16, 2025
Heavy delays in both directions. #AuroraOPP working with the owners to get them to a safe place. ^ks pic.twitter.com/LKjTdMF1eV
Included was a clip of a heifer happily chomping on some grass along the median, seemingly unbothered by the traffic bustling on either side of it.
Videos from passers (or drivers)-by also started popping up online, showing the adventurous fugitives scampering away from handlers and police.
It is clear from the footage that the humans involved were having quite the time rounding up the livestock, with police running down the shoulder of the road after them, and cruisers speeding down the median in hot pursuit.
If you tried leaving early and are traveling north or southbound today, we've got cows on HWY 400! #LongWeekend https://t.co/14YnRV0gED pic.twitter.com/UjGXQhsEPi
— Mel Carrey (@MelCarrey) May 16, 2025
Hopefully, no cows will be harmed (or May Two-Four cottage plans ruined) as the authorities secure the animals, though we all know in the back of our minds that they are likely heading to become your dinner eventually anyway.
