First Live Photo of Calf on the Lam

Where does a calf set for slaughter hide?

Apparently, the brush, thicket, woods and marsh along Overhill Road.

The Norton family has seen the calf, which they believe to be a boy based on the photo, grazing on the edge of the greenery on the edge of their field a few times in the past days.

The calf usually shows up at dawn or dusk, according to Lorraine Norton.

It's not hard to see.

"It's bigger than a calf, let me tell you," Norton said.

But it seems quite shy.

"When it makes its appearance, it's usually for a matter of minutes," Norton said. "He's always at the perimeter of the field, and then he goes back in."

Her daughter, Christine Norton, snapped a photo of the animal two mornings ago before the calf returned to its hideout, Lorraine Norton said.

While others are rallying to save the feeder calf, which in all likelihood was scheduled for slaughter, Norton says the animal should be returned to its rightful owner.

"What can you do about that? He belongs where he belongs," she said. "i can't believe he's been loose for so long."

The calf apparently jumped over a fence at a farm in West Haven on the Orange border and made its way through Orange to Milford in the past two weeks, according to animal control authorities.

Norton keeps a camera on her countertop in hopes of catching a video of the visitor.

"He is kind of beautiful," she said.