Cows on Old Julian Highway, Donkey Disturbs Traffic Near Santee

Highway Patrol officers were dispatched to animal problems on the highways Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

Two cows were reported out loose on Old Julian Highway near Swan Road on Wednesday night. By 6:42 a.m. Thursday, three were reported and CHP was back out to the area. CHP reported on Wednesay night that a broken fence had been found. Cows were grazing on the side of the road, according to the CHP website.

Meanwhile, a donkey was reported running in and out of lanes in the Posthill Road and San Vicente Avenue area near Santee, just before 8 a.m. Thursday. At one point, CHP reported on its website that the donkey was "last seen heading toward Highway 67." By 8:21 a.m. someone was able to apprehend the traffic offender, but didn't have anything to tie the creature with. According to the CHP web page, the party was standing on a "dirt road" near Johnson Lane and requesting an ETA (estimated time of arrival) of help. CHP was on scene at 8:24 a.m.

Animal hazards on local roads are, of course, nothing new. Law enforcement was following a report of a two-foot-tall goose loose on a highway in North County this week.

And readers may recall this Ramona Patch story of a " on Highway 78 in the Pine Hill Egg Ranch vicinity a year ago. Our reader Julie Weaver supplied a photo.