Goats stir up trouble in Boise

While Lewiston residents were just waking up, at the other end of Idaho, residents of West Boise woke up to a surprise early on Aug. 3. As they looked out their windows, they saw over 100 goats walking the streets, eating just about everything in sight.

The goats were found cleaning up flower beds, trimming trees and lawns, up and down the streets of the neighborhood. This event stirred up chaos both in Boise and around the world with the story making international news. But the goats didn’t seem alarmed at all and appeared calm in footage even when locals tried to forcefully remove them from their lawns. These goats were on a mission that even animal control couldn’t stop. And since no one knew where the goats came from, no one knew who else they could call to get rid of them.

This event, which was referred to by some as “Goat-a-Palooza,” was eventually cut short when a company called We-Rent-Goats, claimed the animals and sent a trailer to pick them up.

According to company owners, Kim and Matt Gabica, the goats had been working at a retention pond early Friday morning, without human supervision, when they knocked the wooden fence over and decided to explore the town.

According to its website, the company rents herds of goats to remove noxious weeds from fields, acreage and pastures, which is exactly what the goats did Aug. 3 in Boise. With much appreciation from the neighborhood, all 118 goats were collected and accounted for within the hour and the residents were left to clean up what the goats had missed.