For the second time in as many days, a sheep strayed from the field it grazes in, causing gridlock on I-215 south of Scott Road on Monday Sept. 17 just after 3 p.m., officials reported.
(Daniel Lane/ SWRNN)
Witnesses reported a single sheep was wandering through the lanes of the freeway after most likely walking through an unfenced portion of the field they grazing in.
“One sheep decided he wanted to get out of the fence and go on a tour,” CHP officer Randy Cooper explained as cars crawled by. “Yesterday about 100 sheep were reportedly walking in traffic.”
Officer Cooper added that anything in the roadway is a distraction and danger for drivers.
“Many times motorists overreact to something as big as a sheep in traffic lanes,” he said. “Catastrophic things can happen and in all honesty it’s the motorists reaction that can create the bigger problem.”
He advised if drivers come across a hazard in the roadway to apply the brakes as smoothly as possible and avoid jerking the wheel.
“Ugly things can happen if a person jerks the wheel left to right.”
Eventually the wayward sheep made his way back to the shepherd and the rest of his flock.
“As long as there are sheep here they will get out, they are not dumb animals,” Officer Cooper said.
Stephanie D. Schulte is a writer/photographer with SWRNN. She can be reached at stephanie.schulte@swrnn.com.
*Daniel Lane contributed to this report.
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