It was a goat-filled morning for the homeowners and children of a Boise, Idaho suburb on Friday.
About 118 goats burst into Summerwind Drive off of Five Mile Road, startling residents and captivating spectators on social media as they feasted on lawns, flower bushes and tree leaves.
“A ton of goats got loose. I don’t know how, but…it’s pretty awesome,” said local resident Ben Dunn.
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It turns out the goats belong to a company called We Rent Goats, which does exactly what it claims — rent out goats “to remove noxious weeds from fields, acreage, pastures, open spaces, ditches, ravines, embankments…you name it and the goats can clear it,” according to their website.
“They were on a pond that the county had hired us to clear, and it looks like they pushed through some of the wood boards and got out that way,” said Matt Gabica, co-owner of We Rent Goats. “A bunch of homeowners and a bunch of kids had some excitement.”
The inquisitive animals escaped at about 7 a.m. local time and wandered into the West Boise suburb.
“It is pretty rare that they actually ever get out, thank goodness,” said We Rent Goats co-owner Kim Gabica. “They’re very creative escape artists sometimes and so just when you think you have all the containment figured out they manage to find a new way that you didn’t think of.”
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The herd of goats was wrangled into a truck by company workers at around 8:30 a.m.
By then the goats had already built up an online following of social media users. One reporter for the local KTVB news channel dubbed it the “#Boise Goat-a-Palooza 2018.”
One Twitter user said that in 30 years they would be telling their grandchildren about “the great goat invasion of 2018.” Another tweeted: “They’re maaaaaaaad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore.”
— With files from Reuters.