WESTERN BUREAU – It would appear that the St James Parish Council and the cattle they wish to remove from the streets of Montego Bay are engaged in a game of cat and mouse, leaving the council to contemplate round-the-clock impounding.

According to Mayor Noel Donaldson, it is either that the animals are familiar with the council’s pound truck or they are familiar with its operators.

His theory stems from the reaction of the stray cows, last week, to yet another attempt to remove them from the streets of farm Heights, a community on the outskirts of the western resort city.

As the truck approached, the mayor said, the animals stopped grazing and eyed the vehicle warily. As soon as the team alighted from the vehicle, he added, the cows ran in the opposite direction.

“As soon as the truck approached, the cows looked towards the truck and they took off. They ran a substantial distance away and stopped… When the workers from the truck start moving, they took off again,” he said.

A similar incident took place along the Alice Eldemire Drive, which is being dualised.

“As soon as the cows saw the truck, they ran,” Donaldson said. “And so it is apparent to us that the cows that frequent particular locations where the pound truck has gone to attempt to remove them. have developed some level of familiarity. They recognise that there are attempts to catch them and so they take evasive action.”

At the same time, he said the animals were now less visible in the daytime, perhaps because the owners are aware that the pound truck makes the rounds during that period. The result, he said, was that the strays were let loose at night.

“It would appear that the owners of these animals are aware that the pound truck goes around in the day and so (most of) the animals are kept confined during the daylight hours,” he said.

Councillor Barry Solomone of the Spring Gardens Division has suggested that impounding activities should also be done during the nights. The suggestion was made at the last council meeting and Donaldson said he would give the suggestion serious consideration.