'Barney' the bull eludes capture days after farm escape on Long Island

This photo provided by Suffolk County Police Department, Friday July 23, 2021, shows a bull on the loose in Mastic, N.Y. (Suffolk County Police Department via AP)

MASTIC, N.Y. -

An escaped bull has eluded capture for several days on Long Island despite searchers employing a helicopter and night-vision equipment along with attempts to lure the roaming animal with grain and a cow.

Police in Suffolk County say they began responding to calls about the 1,500-pound (680-kilogram) bull running loose Tuesday morning after it broke through the fence of a local farm. Residents have spotted the dark-coated bull, since nicknamed Barney, walking across fields, roads and suburban front yards. And it briefly shut down a portion of Sunrise Highway.

Teams have searched the area about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of New York City on foot and on horseback. They've used drones. A "bull trap" baited with the same feed Barney eats on the farm did not work, nor did other would-be traps.

"We've tried luring him with a cow, with horses," Frankie Floridia of Strong Island Animal Rescue told Newsday. "I'm out here with a (tranquilizer gun), looking for him, and I'm thinking, `I'm hunting cows in an Indiana Jones movie.' It's just frustrating. The longer it goes, you wonder what happens."

The bull is roaming around a part of Long Island that features dense underbrush and pine barrens. Floridia said the dense vegetation has hindered the search.

Rescuers said they hope to have the bull moved to a sanctuary.

"I'm not afraid of him being aggressive to humans," Floridia said. "He doesn't have horns, he's not an aggressive animal. I think he's going to see people and he's going to run away. I'm just afraid, with the color of his coat, he's going to wander into a road in the dark and some driver won't see him."