118 Goats Invade Suburban Iowa Neighborhood
Residents of one neighborhood in West Boise, Iowa, woke up yesterday morning to an invasion — 118 adult and baby goats were aimlessly roaming their streets.
The harmless herd had escaped a nearby enclosure and wandered over to Summerwind Drive around 7 a.m. on Friday, August 3, reported local news station KTVB.
Apparently, the goats were hungry since many of them were found grazing on the manicured lawns of the surprised homeowners.
They snacked on grass, rosebushes, and the leaves of low-hanging branches.
Word quickly spread around the town, and soon everyone was outside snooping on the swarm of goats. Some people admired the animals from afar, quietly taking pictures and videos of the bizarre scene. Others got up close and personal with the friendly creatures by petting them.
“They kind of just, like, took over this neighborhood,” eyewitness Grace King told KTVB. “We didn’t realize how many goats there would be.”
Ben Dunn told the television station that his mother woke him up, telling him he needed to go outside.
“I looked out, and I was like, ‘Oh dang,'” he recalled. “It’s kind of funny to see them in the road a ton, like not even caring about the cars.”
#Breaking – About 100 goats are on the loose right now in a #Boise neighborhood. They are going house to house eating everything in sight. Nobody has a clue where they came from…updates to follow pic.twitter.com/K0ghUwQEfk
— Joe Parris (@KTVBJoe) August 3, 2018
Animal control was called to the scene, but the one truck that showed up with was not going to be able to contain all of the rogue animals. Fortunately, the animals’ owners, Kim and Matt Gabica of We Rent Goats, showed up to corral the herd.
The company dispatches goats to fields, pastures, and other open spaces to graze on noxious weeds, eliminating them quickly and without the use of harmful chemicals.
https://www.facebook.com/werentgoats/photos/a.284775851548765.88347.284775298215487/284775854882098/?type=1&theater
The 118 goats had escaped their pen at a nearby storm retention pond.
“They managed to break through the fence and go on a little adventure to meet the neighbors,” Kim told KTVB.
“They’re very creative escape artists, sometimes, so just when you think you have all the containment figured out, they find a way that you didn’t think of.”
Two hours after the goats were first spotted, the townsfolk helped the Gabicas round them all up and load them onto the large trailer they brought with them.
Homeowners concerned about the damage the goats did to their property shouldn’t worry too much, according to Boise city government spokesman Mike Journee.
“The company has insurance and will be following up with neighbors whose landscaping was damaged. Animal control will also be following up with the company,” he said in an email to NBC News.
