A Plan To Lure 'Mastic Bull' Out Of Nature Preserve

MASTIC, NY — Forget the running of the bulls, call it the running of the humans.

A bull that escaped a farm in Manorville on Tuesday was still on the loose in a nature preserve on Long Island on Wednesday evening.

The wayward bovine was last seen Tuesday night in the woods. The Suffolk County Police Department turned over the search effort to animal rescue groups, a spokeswoman said, but the recovery effort has proved difficult for them.

The preserve has grass for the roughly 1,500-pound bull to eat and a stream for it to drink from, said anthrozoologist John DiLeonardo of Long Island Orchestrating for Nature.

“Right now, he has everything he needs,” he said.

The bull was set to be slaughtered for a religious rite but now will be taken to an animal sanctuary in New Jersey to live out its days after it's captured.

The animal welfare advocates brought in a menstruating cow in hopes the scent would lure the bull back to the farm, where they had a net launcher and dart gun to tranquilize the animal.

“Let’s offer [the bull] some sex and see if that works,” DiLeonardo said, jokingly.

But the Marilyn Monoroe of cows — “Norma Jean” — didn’t budge the bull, which seemed to be digging his hooves in.

The bull showed signs of fear and distress Wednesday night as rescuers could hear him moaning in the darkness because he was probably scared and lonely, according to DiLeonardo.

“[The bull] had a hard day yesterday,” said DiLeonardo, explaining that bulls are “not meant to be alone.

"He probably needs some friends. Herd animals need to be with other herd animals.”

Suffolk police received the first report about the bull running through Montgomery Avenue in Mastic at about 8:20 a.m. Tuesday.

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As of 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the rescue groups, including LION, Jaeger’s Run Animal Rescue and Strong Island Animal Rescue, had been trying to wrangle the bull for about 33 hours. They used a drone and infrared camera and plan to set up baiting stations Thursday morning.

Ant they also had a net launcher at the ready.

“We are going to stop chasing because this is a good area,” DiLeonardo said. “We don’t want to drive [the bull] to the highway. We don’t want anyone to shoot [it].”

Rescuers asked the public to stay away from the site.

Suffolk Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Chief Roy Gross, who referred to the atmosphere as a “circus” in a previous interview, had no qualms about saying that there were too many people around and asked curiosity seekers to “stand down.”

“That animal knows that we are here,” he said. “So standing around over here and walking through the fields, that [bull] is just going to keep on running.”

He went on to say that there was no danger of the animal running across the Sunrise Highway unless it is being chased.

“It already made it through a major ordeal,” he said. “It knew it was going to be killed. Obviously they can sense that. It broke right through a fence to escape. It’s been chased since yesterday.”

“He was running for his life,” DiLeonardo added.

Dr. Dennis Dougherty, a Bayport veterinarian who works with the SPCA, said he has worked with the SPCA on escaped bovine cases before and knows the techniques that work the best.

“When you have an animal that is scared to death, [it] is not going to come near people,” he said, adding, that everything should be “calmed down” so the animal is relaxed, which will make it easier to entice.

Corn and grain will be laid down as a sweet treat to whet the bull’s appetite and capture it, but there is a possibility that he might not eat if it is stressed, Dougherty said.

A police spokeswoman said the department will remain in contact with the organizations and will respond to all 911 calls with information about the location of the bull, according to a police spokeswoman.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.