WFAA-TV

The steer ambled into the drive-thru lane at a McDonald's.

HURST — A lone steer prowled the streets and backyards of northeast Tarrant County for more than an hour Thursday morning until police officers and animal control agents were able to round it up in the parking lot behind a Hurst business.

Police said the five-mile urban odyssey started around 11 o'clock when the steer escaped from a fenced area near Davis Blvd. and Bursey Road in North Richland Hills.

The pursuit was on as it headed south through the Tarrant County Community College campus.

About 15 minutes later, the black steer appeared to be cornered in the yard of a home. He stared down a squadron of police, who fired a tranquilizer dart into its hide.

After a brief standoff, the steer turned its tail and trotted away, traveling through backyards and then ambling into the parking lot of an apartment complex.

From there, the animal crossed several busy streets as puzzled motorists slowed to ponder the unexpected sight.

The steer went under Highway 183 and then—an ironic moment that could not have been scripted by the finest Hollywood screenwriter: The animal walked directly past the drive-thru window of a McDonald's hamburger restaurant.

The adventure came to an end behind Full Boar Cycles in the 700 block of West Euless Bedford Road in Hurst. The now-woozy steer found some comfort in a shady spot adjacent to a drainage culvert, where Hurst and North Richland Hills police along with their animal control counterparts set up a perimiter.

Then, finally—in a scene that looked more like the Mesquite Rodeo than the Hurst Roundup—an unidentified North Richland Hills police officer was able to rope the stubborn steer on his third try.

By this time, the animal was sedated to the point that the rescue teams had to drag and lift him into the trailer.

No one was hurt and no property damage was reported.

WFAA.com editor Walt Zwirko contributed to this report.

E-mail jdouglas@wfaa.com