Goat herd walks off job, snacks on Boise's lawns
BOISE, IDAHO — Have you ... herd? More than 100 goats were wandering Boise’s streets Friday morning — chewing on everything in their path and making friends along the way.
The goats, who were originally corralled near an Ada County Highway District retention pond and working that area, tired of that location and broke through several slats of wood in a fence.
They then began wandering from lawn to lawn, looking for snacks, meeting the neighbors and attracting reporters from all corners of the Treasure Valley.
All 118 goats, which are owned by Kim and Matt Gabica as part of their We Rent Goats business, have since been accounted for. The goats can be rented to knock down weeds and other brush in pastures or other properties.
The call about the rogue goats came into dispatch around 7 a.m. Friday. By 9 a.m., all of the goats had been loaded on to a trailer to be taken back from whence they came. The goats had gathered mostly on one lawn on Summerwind Drive after breaking free from the retention pond a couple of blocks away.
Kim Gabica said because goats are herd animals, if one breaks free, all the others will follow.
“Goats are great escape artists, and I guess they decided to go on an adventure today,” she said. “It’s rare that this many would get out, but they would definitely follow each other.”
She said most people rent their goats from their Middleton business to eat weeds or trim down grass for wildfire abatement. All together, the couple own 500 goats, but not all of them were in Boise on Friday. After the goats were rounded up in a trailer, the owner was seen sweeping up, um, remnants from the ruminants.
The Gabicas even brought one of their stock herding dogs to help round up the goats if needed. The dog ended up disappointed, as the goats were mostly gathered on one lawn and agreeably loaded into a trailer with some mild encouragement.
“We prefer to do jobs that require at least 100 goats,” according to the We Rent Goats website.
“Typically, 100 goats will eat around a half acre a day depending on the amount of vegetation (if the weeds are tall and thick, it will take longer). If you want us to just remove one noxious weed out of your pasture, we move the goats a lot faster so they don’t eat the vegetation (usually grasses) you want to keep.”