Local mailman takes goat escape “by the horns”

This June, the Gunbarrel Estates area saw a daring escape by five goats that had been helping to mow a local lawn.

The electric fence that had been in place failed, and two adult goats seized the opportunity to leave, accompanied by their three kids. The animals were quickly noticed by a couple of bystanders, as well as postal worker Jay Nichols, who rushed to assist the others.

Within a fairly short time, the group had managed to return the goats to their original enclosure, but the fence toppled a second time, and the goats bolted again. An hour-long chase ensued, during which the animals made their way down 71st Street, eventually crossing Lookout Road and forcing those chasing them to step into the street and attempt to control traffic to ensure the goats’ safety.

Over the course of the chase, more bystanders joined in the effort, trying to bait the goats with leafy branches or lasso them with dog leashes and rope.

“We had one man in an SUV who actually used his SUV to try to barricade them and channel them off on a side street,” Gunbarrel resident Bill Hathaway-Clark said. “And then we got them into the parking lot of the church, and that’s where it got really popular.”

With the help of many volunteers, including a few with experience handling livestock, the goats were eventually detained in the church parking lot, and returned to their owner at the hands of Nichols.

Eyewitness Amanda Laramie mentioned that it was thanks to him that the animals were successfully corralled in any reasonable amount of time. “Jay knew how to grab them. He definitely knew what he was doing, which I think is why he stuck with it for so long.”

Hathaway-Clark added, “I thought that was really above and beyond what we would see. Everyone kind of stopped what they were doing, but he was literally in the middle of his work, and had to work later as a result.”

Laramie saw Nichols finishing his route later that evening, during the hailstorm. She said he was forced to hold a bucket over his head to protect it from the falling ice.

With the efforts of a few determined individuals, the goats were brought back into custody, though they haven’t re-appeared since then. No doubt they’ve moved on to greener pastures.

It seems that animal owners in Gunbarrel can rest assured if their livestock manages to escape, it’s nothing a bit of neighborly cooperation can’t put right.