"They kind of just like took over this neighborhood this morning."
BOISE -- A herd of goats caused a stir Friday morning after they escaped their enclosure and went on a snacking tour through a West Boise neighborhood.
Residents say the 118 adult and baby goats first showed up on Summerwind Drive off of Five Mile Road at about 7 a.m.
Ben Dunn said he found out about the goat invasion when his mother rousted him from his bed.
"My mom was shaking me up like crazy, and she was like 'Ben, come outside!' and I was like 'what, what?'" he said. "I looked out, and I was like, 'oh dang.'"
The hungry herd moved from lawn to lawn, chewing down grass, munching on rosebushes and stripping low-hanging branches bare.
"Half the neighborhood's lawn has been cut - I mean, mowing for free!" Dunn said. "It's kind of funny to see them in the road a ton, like not even caring about the cars."
The goats quickly attracted a crowd, as neighbors emerged to snap photos and pet the friendly animals. Animal Control officers responded with a single truck, but quickly realized that would not be enough.
A herd of 118 adult and baby goats got loose in a West Boise neighborhood on Friday, August 3. They wandered from home to home, eating everything in sight on Summerwind Drive off of Five Mile Road at about 7 a.m.
At first, residents told KTVB they weren't sure where the goats had come from.
As it turns out, the goats were the property of local company We Rent Goats, which dispatches the herds to clear weeds and suppress plant growth on public and private land.
Kim Gabica, who owns We Rent Goats along with her husband Matt, said the goats had been grazing on a nearby storm retention pond when they made their escape.
"They managed to break through the fence and go on a little adventure to meet the neighbors," she said.
The Gabicas rolled up with a trailer, and worked with the neighbors to round up the goats and load them into the truck. An escape of Friday's magnitude is rare, Kim Gabica said.
"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," she said.
The (human) kids in the neighborhood didn't seem to mind.
Grace and Ethan King said their dad was the first person to alert them to the goats outside.
"When we walked around the corner, we didn't realize how many goats there would be," Grace said said. "They kind of just like took over this neighborhood this morning."
Alyssa Dowdy said she got a text from a friend about "a whole bunch of goats."
"I went crazy, and I came outside," she said.
Although some members of the herd are shy, Gabica said, many of the goats are "fairly social, and like a good scratch on the neck."
Luckily, the neighborhood was ready to deliver. Ben Dunn said he had no plans to tear himself away from the unexpected petting zoo "until someone drags me inside, or until they're taken away."
Ultimately, the herd's great escape came to an end, although We Rent Goats says the fence will need repairs before they can return to grazing the retention pond.
Even as the excitement on Summerwind began to die down, Zander Holyoak said he couldn't wait to tell his friends about his unusual morning.
"I'm probably going to tell them that I saw the most wild thing ever," he said.