Onlookers 'amused' as runaway bullock finds fibreglass cow

The runaway animal was spotted early on Friday morning (April 22) outside Baker Rhodes, a curtain supplier in Felmingham, near North Walsham.

David Baker, who co-runs the shop, said: "I was up after 6am, opening the front gate.

Baker Rhodes, an interior design and interiors shop in Felmingham, near North Walsham in Norfolk. (Image: Google)

"We have a big fibreglass psychedelic cow in the front, outside the shop. I thought was seeing double because there was another cow there, licking its mouth.

"I thought it was quite bizarre," he added.

Hoping to learn where the renegade bullock had come from, Mr Baker called his neighbour, Tim Papworth, who owns a farm with actual, non-fibreglass cows.

Mr Papworth said: "My neighbour called me and he said, 'I think I'm alright but I might have had too much too drink because my cow has reproduced and has got another one'."

The farmer went next door to have a look. The cow was not from his farm but he did find the scene "quite amusing".

"My neighbour's multicoloured cow had attracted a friend," he said. "It was all quite funny."

Tim Papworth is the chair of the Felmingham Parish Council. Picture by Adam Fradgley (Image: Exposure Photography)

After some investigation, Mr Papworth found out that the bullock had escaped from another farm and had been on the run for two days.

"As soon as you went anywhere near it, it took flight again," he said.

The cow is currently at Mr Papworth's farm, in a paddock with another cow and calf.

"It's had a run of freedom for a while," said Mr Papworth.

The young bullock that made a dash for freedom and was missing for two days in Felmingham in Norfolk. (Image: Tim Papworth)

Mr Baker said the bullock, which was "timid and quite frightened", thought the fibreglass cow was its mother and was there for two or three hours.

But why is there a multicoloured fibreglass cow outside a curtain suppliers in north Norfolk?

Mr Baker explains.

"We call ourselves Strange Farm. It used to be called Grange Farm but that was a boring name," he says.

"We're a curtain makers, and apart from a few chickens no farming goes on here, so it's a strange farm, and a strange farm needs a strange cow."

A bullock that escaped from a farm in north Norfolk ended up with a fibreglass cow. (Image: Tim Papworth)

The replica cow, named Caroline after a song in the musical 'Gypsy', has been standing in the field for 10 years.

"In summer we often see people out on treasure hunts screech up in their cars and take pictures of the cow," Mr Baker said.