Lefty the now-famous and rambunctious Connecticut Miniature Scottish Highland bull is back home after 16 days on the loose.
Kit Sullivan has the elusive bull back on his Franklin farm after the nearly three-foot and 300-pound bull escaped his farm. Lefty was finally caught on Saturday evening around 7 p.m. near a Norwich reservoir, about four miles from the farm.
It’s an area that Sullivan had been tracking Lefty, who he described is like a compact, agile, muscular St. Bernard, for much of the last two weeks.
“It was very challenging because he was sticking to the thick brush areas where he you can’t throw a lasso around him,” Sullivan said. “After another week of chasing him through the woods covering 30 miles, we decided to change up our game plan.”
Lefty the Miniature Scottish Highland is back in his Franklin home after being on the loose for 16 days. His owner Kit Sullivan said Lefty is safe in the family barn.
Sullivan said Lefty had been staying in a patch of woods near the reservoir.
“I was able to talk to the landowner who had a field that Lefty spent a lot of time in, so we set up a corral area with put up some cattle fencing and a trap door on it,” Sullivan said. “We set up our truck and trailer 200 yards away and we just camped out for six hours and we waited him and he finally walked into the trap.”
Lefty didn’t set the trap door, so Sullivan had to sneak up behind him and close it.
Sullivan and he and his friend Alex Grillo, of Preston, were able to get a rope around Lefty’s horns and another around one of his feet in a 10-minute struggle to get him controlled and in the trailer.
“He’s a wild little guy and he wasn’t expecting us, and he took my buddy for a little ride,” Sullivan said. “It was easier to get the lasso around his horns. I had to get it around his feet. I think he’s closer to 400 pounds. He’s short and stocky but he is strong as hell.”
“He’s home safe and sound now,” Sullivan added. “We have him safely in a pen in the barn where he is weathering out the storm in a nice dry area with some goats to hang out with. He’s enjoying all of the donuts and the grain he can eat.”
Sullivan said Lefty is feeling more at home now and that his family is building trust with him.
Sullivan said Lefty has gained some notoriety during this process with an Instagram page of his own. Sullivan also said that an area school asked Lefty to partake in a cow chip bingo as a fundraiser. Lefty has also been invited to the annual Winterfest Light Parade on Dec. 6.
“I’m hoping he’s going to be halter-trained by then…now we will have a little trailer to pull in the parade so everyone can see him and meet him,” Sullivan said. “Let him get his 15 minutes of fame – why not? I think it’s hilarious. He has the face for it. Someone actually made an AI generated movie about him and I think it already has 12,000 views – ‘Lefty’s Big Adventure.’”
Sullivan said he was sent different AI generated photos of Lefty in different places, including playing slots and blackjack at Mohegan Sun.
An AI generated photo of Lefty at Mohegan Sun. Lefty’s owner Kit Sullivan said he received this photo and others while he was searching for his elusive Miniature Scottish Highland over the last 16 days. Sullivan said Lefty is enjoying his 15 minutes of fame. Lefty now has an Instagram page as well as been invited to be a centerpiece of a school fundraiser as well as being a part of an annual Norwich parage in Dec..
All joking aside, Sullivan said he’s happy Lefty is back safe and added that it was a huge weight off his shoulders.
“When we caught him, it was a huge adrenaline rush and we were cheering and slapping high fives,” Sullivan said. “He’s a cute little guy and he fits right in here at my farm.”
