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Power Outage Causes Scare Of Loose Bull

Posted at 12:18 AM, Jul 20, 2013
and last updated 2013-07-20 00:20:08-04

HUDSONVILLE, Mich.– Hudsonville seemed like it was one of the harder hit areas with storm damage.

The wind was so strong it took out part of the railroad crossing gate on Chicago Drive where crews spent some time trying to get that back up and running.

There were also downed trees, some that took out power and blocked roads for hours. But our crews came across something you don’t hear about everyday following a storm; a tree taking out a power line that runs an electric fence for a bull at Rietberg Farms in Hudsonville.

 “Now the important thing is to keep him happy without water  because once he realizes the fences aren’t powered and he has no water he’ll make it under the fence and he’ll be visiting the neighborhood,” said Julie Rietberg.

 The bull’s water bowl is run by power too and without that automatically filling up it could mean trouble. As crews worked as fast as they could to restore power the Rietberg family did what they could to keep the bull happy.

 They pet him, brought him grain in the hopes it would keep him close by, they tried everything just to keep the bull away from the fence.

 After about two hours, crews were able to restore power to the fence and all could breathe a sigh of a relief that the bull was safe and sound.