SAN JOSE – Residents of one upscale San Jose neighborhood are literally having a cow.

Make that a small herd of them.

For the past two months, cattle have been paying regular visits to Whitetail Lane in the Evergreen area. It’s not the mooing that has the residents up in arms, it’s what the cattle leave behind: torn up front lawns and large deposits of … cow pies.

“It’s been almost every night, if not every night,” said Tam Quach, who estimates he has spent $600 fixing broken sprinkler heads since July, not to mention cleaning up the bovine poop.

Quach and others say they’ve reached out to the city for help – from police to elected officials – but haven’t gotten anywhere. That changed after this news organization learned about the issue and contacted District 8 Councilwoman Sylvia Arenas’ office. By the end of Tuesday, an animal control officer had been dispatched to Whitetail Lane.

Capt. Jay Terrado, the interim division manager of San Jose Animal Care and Services, confirmed that an investigation is underway to identify the owner of the loose livestock. Terrado sympathized with the residents, noting that while it might not seem like a big deal to an outsider, he would want something done if he lived in the area.

“You can’t deal with cows on your own,” Terrado said.

Where the cattle are coming from is a mystery to the residents. They typically arrive after sundown and depart by sunrise, said Quach, adding that he has never seen anyone come to collect them.

Beyond the nuisance the cattle present, residents are concerned about safety. Soraia Bakhtiari said one of the horned beasts sauntered after her Monday night when she tried to shoo it away from her home.

“It’s so scary,” she said.

Quach recalled a similar encounter with the half dozen or so animals that frequent his lawn.

“They ran toward us,” he said. “We turned on the sprinklers, but they just stood there and took a shower.”

Bakhtiari is also worried a resident returning home in the dark might collide with one of the creatures.

“This situation is really hard for us,” she said. “We pay all this money to live in a nice neighborhood.”

Asked why the city didn’t respond sooner, Terrado said he was aware of only one other report about cattle on Whitetail Lane. In July, someone called San Jose police, which in turn contacted Animal Care. There were no follow-up calls, as is usually the case with a large animal, and an animal control officer was never dispatched, Terrado said.

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Once the owner has been identified, Animal Care will check to make sure they have the proper permits and enforce a city ordinance that requires large animals to be kept within enclosures, Terrado said.

Arenas’ office, meanwhile, said it will also help residents solve the cattle conundrum.

“Evergreen has a long and proud history of ranching and grazing, but that should never include people’s front yards,” Arenas said in a statement provided to this news organization. “My office is happy to work on resolving this issue, and I encourage anyone who needs help accessing city services to reach out to by calling 408-535-4908.”