JACKSON, MI – If Hollywood wanted to film a fascinating reality TV show in Jackson County, they might call it "Cows Gone Wild."

A rare and strange cow story unfolded this summer in Concord Township, where a herd of about 120 beef cattle had reverted to wild instincts and a violent hatred of human contact.

"They were the worst man-eating cows I've ever seen," said Randy Heselschwerdt, one of the family owners of Napoleon Livestock. "They would just charge you and chase you."

Few men are able or willing to confront such beasts, but Heselschwerdt is an exception.

For two months between August and October, he used ingenuity, patience and night-vision goggles to trap the wild cows for a farmer who has since died.

The farmer fed and watered his Hereford and Angus cattle daily, but lost control of them about 10 years ago. He was unable to catch or handle the cows for normal herd-management tasks on his 300-acre farm.

"He really did care about his cows," Heselschwerdt said. "They weren't skinny or malnourished. I think they just got a little bit wild and kept getting wilder."

The first time Heselschwerdt saw the cows, they spotted his truck and sprinted into a woods like deer. They had worn paths between their feeding area and their hideout in the trees.

To set a trap, Heselschwerdt fixed up and reinforced a corral, which he baited with corn and clover hay. At first, he hid behind a solid steel gate and slammed it shut when 10 or 12 cows came inside.

"The stupid ones came first," he said. Stupid or not, the enraged cows thrashed against the corral and fiercely resisted being loaded into a truck.

"You were sweating, heart-pounding, because you just had a near-death experience," Heselschwerdt said.

After about 40 cattle were trapped, the rest wised up and stayed away when Heselschwerdt was near the corral.

"I think they could smell me," he said. "It was like being in a war or something. They would just look around, like they were looking for the enemy. Which, I guess, they were."

Rigging up an improved trap of his own design, he used a trip-wire made of fishing line to slam the corral gate shut automatically.

Cows younger than a year were auctioned at Napoleon Livestock. Older ones, deemed too bloodthirsty to handle, were shipped to a slaughterhouse in Cincinnati.

In total, Heselschwerdt trapped 113 wild cows. Four evaded even his cow-catching powers.

"I've exhausted all my resources for those four," he said.

So now we know cows really can go wild.

"I've been here 58 years," said Dale Heselschwerdt, Randy's father, "and there's nothing that came even close to this."

-- Contact Brad Flory at brad@lifeinplaid.com