Imagine you’re cruising down a Nebraska highway, perhaps daydreaming about what’s for dinner, when suddenly you spot a scene that seems to come straight out of a comedy sketch.
A man is driving along, but he’s not alone—sitting next to him is a fully-grown Watusi bull!
This isn’t a scene from a Hollywood movie, but real life in Neligh, Nebraska.
Local resident Lee Meyer wasn’t taking a solo drive; he was accompanied by his bull named Howdy Doody.
The sheer spectacle of it had the Norfolk Police Division responding to calls at around 10:00 a.m., according to News Channel Nebraska.
“The officers received a call referencing a car driving into town that had a cow in it,” shared Police Captain Chad Reiman.
When the officers got this call, they likely thought it was going to be a small calf or maybe a pet cow.
You know, something that would “moo-ve” comfortably within the confines of a vehicle.
However, when they pulled Meyer over, they were in for quite the surprise.
“As a result, the officer performed a traffic stop and addressed some traffic violations that were occurring with that particular situation,” Reiman elaborated.
What makes this even more fascinating is that Meyer had gone to the length of installing a yellow barrier inside his car to keep Howdy Doody securely in place.
Talk about being prepared!
But even preparedness has its limits.
What was the aftermath of this peculiar pull-over?
“The officer wrote him some warnings,” Reiman disclosed.
“There were some citable issues with that situation. The officer chose to write him a warning and simply asked him to take the animal back home and leave the city.”
Evidently, Howdy Doody’s day out had reached its grand finale.
Now, if you’re like most of us, you’re probably wondering why on Earth Meyer would decide to go driving with a Watusi bull in the first place.
Even Captain Reiman was a bit puzzled.
“I don’t know why he was doing it that day,” he said.
“I asked him what kind of animal it was, where he lived, how far he came from, and those types of things. I talked to him about the violations that were occurring, and that pretty much concluded our interaction.”
The veteran police captain did confess that this was far from a routine traffic stop.
“I can honestly say that I haven’t seen anything like that before,” Reiman admitted.
“It was different, for sure. You’re not going to run across that every day.”
The word “unique” hardly seems sufficient to describe this situation.
But get this—this wasn’t Meyer and Howdy Doody’s first taste of fame.
In 2019, the pair were the talk of the town when they made an appearance in a local parade.
Antelope County News captured the moment in a Facebook post, captioning it: “FAN FAVORITE: The kids went wild when Lee Meyer of Neligh drove his Watusi named ‘Howdy Doody’ on the parade route!”
As if this weren’t enough, the unlikely duo had already hit the limelight back in 2017.
They snagged the first-place prize at the Kolach Days Parade in Verdigre.
Their float, numbered 53 and sporting a whimsical license plate that read “Boy & Dog,” became an internet sensation.
A video of their parade performance rapidly went viral, accumulating over 2 million views, according to the Norfolk Daily News.
What did the locals make of all this?
Their reactions were encapsulated in a phrase that seems to capture the entire quirky essence of small-town Nebraska: “Only in Verdigre.”
While the Norfolk Nebraska Police Division has yet to release an official statement, one thing is certain—this is a traffic stop that’s destined to be a local legend for years to come.
Watch the video footage from their stop below.
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