Four "big, mean" bovines broke free Sunday afternoon from a stalled tractor-trailer on Georgia's I-20, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The errant cattle caused one minor fender bender and several other close calls before officers shut a section of the freeway.

The cattle were able to free themselves after the floorboard of a trailer carrying 59 bovines snapped in two on I-20 near Covington about 3 p.m., according to the newspaper. Four of the animals hoofed it up the westbound highway.

Horseback riders from a nearby rodeo were unsuccessful at roping the animals.

"I must have missed the day that taught how to catch loose cows in police academy," Covington Police Lt. Philip Bradford told the newspaper. "I guess we have to write a new page."

The cattle jumped through an opening in a guardrail onto a grassy embankment. Police called off the search at about 8 p.m.

The truck's driver, Johnny Jarel, was charged for operating a vehicle described by police as "junky as hell."

The cows were last seen headed for Atlanta.