Maybe in the long-gone days when the city stopped at Eighth Street Northeast and farmland began, a bull on the loose in Auburn might have been a bit of a ho-hum episode.

But the beast that came a snortin’ and a hoofin’ it down Lea Hill to run amuck in the heart of Auburn, circa 2011, Saturday night signified about a thousand pounds of big, beefy excitement.

“We’ve had wildlife in the city before, but I don’t remember a bull being downtown … we were concerned for the bull and for citizens’ safety,” Auburn Police Commander Mike Hirman told the Associated Press.

A dash-mounted police camera and voices crackling on the police radio documented the unfolding drama, which began shortly before midnight.

“There’s a bull … you might want to run … it’s comin’ this way, pardner … run!” an unidentified voice yells.

As the video rolls, the bull legs it along some of Auburn’s well-traveled streets, snuffling along the north side of the 1 East Main Professional Building toward the old King County Health building, huffing past the Starting Gate Restaurant between 6th Street Northeast and Park Avenue on Auburn Way North.

Inside that eatery, curious diners tucking into their late-night goodies wondered what the heck was going on with all the police cars and flashing lights outside. A curious waitress, Lisa “Sammy” Shaw briefly poked her head out the door to see what the fuss was about, but retracted it when a gruff voice ordered her, in no uncertain terms to “get (your backside) back inside.”

For one brief moment on the tape, the bull vanishes into a patch of woods, but finding the surroundings not to its satisfaction, soon returns to the asphalt.

At one point, the bull’s owner called in the cavalry, a.k.a. some rough and ready wranglers. The rough-riders are visible, lasso-wielding hands sticking out of the passenger sides of several police vehicles.

This strange, eventful history came to its conclusion when the wranglers lassoed the bull in front of a building, dropping and securing the quadruped as it quietly munched some tasty grass.

In a half-hour’s time, the bull had logged about four miles.

As for how the bull busted loose and who owns him, Auburn Police Commander David Colglazier said there’s no more tale to tell.

“There was no report completed on this, and the CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) does not name the owner or any other details of how the bull got out,” Colglazier said.

Nobody, neither man nor beast, suffered injuries in the excitement.