Hoofed hilarity: Five odd tales of GOATed goats
April 25 (UPI) -- The UPI Odd News headlines often play host to animals including bears, alligators, cows and snakes, but only one animal can truly be called the greatest of all time: the humble goat.
Whether they're climbing bridges, hitting the highway or overrunning an Italian island, we here at UPI can't get enough of these majestic creatures, and neither, we assume, can our readers.
With that bold assumption in mind, here are five examples of GOATed goats doing whatever it is that they do best.
Take my goats -- please, take them
The goats that have occupied the island of Alicudi, in Sicily's Aeolian archipelago, have become a tourist draw since the wild population was established about 20 years ago, but the island's mayor said the happy honeymoon has now become a horned horror.
Mayor Riccardo Gullo said the goat population is now six times the island's human population of about 100, leading the bleating blighters to invade residents' homes and gardens.
To reduce the over-population, Gullo introduced an adopt-a-goat program allowing any island visitor to take a goat home for free -- aside from a $17 processing fee.
"Anyone can make a request for a goat, it doesn't have to be a farmer, and there are no restrictions on numbers," Gullo said.
Firefighters and animal rescuers teamed up in Kansas City, Mo., when an escaped mountain goat made its way to the East 63rd Street and Lewis Road bridge to do what he does best -- climb.
The goat, initially identified as Jeffery, ended up stranded on a ledge located underneath the roadway, but about 80 feet above the ground.
A civilian rescuer managed to get a rope around Jeffrey, but when firefighters rappelled down to reach him he tried to jump to another ledge -- and missed.
Jeffrey was suspended from the rope for a short time before falling to the ground, where padding had been placed to ease his landing. The resilient goat was not injured.
The goat's saga took one more unexpected twist when it turned out his original name was Chug, and he had been stolen from a farm in February before ending up at the shelter where he was adopted and renamed Jeffrey. Officials said the dual-named goat would be returned to his original owner.
An Arlington, Texas, neighborhood descended into horn-headed havoc when a herd of 200 escaped goats came marching down the street to feast on their gardens.
The Arlington Police Department said the goats were employed by the city to clear plants such as poison ivy and poison oak from the Crystal Canyon Natural Area, but they somehow managed to get out of their fenced enclosure.
Officers and animal wranglers responded to the scene to round up the hungry herd and return them to the natural area.
"I can't promise plants weren't eaten that weren't supposed to be eaten, but no goats were injured," said Michael Debrecht, the city's assistant director of Parks and Recreation.
Firefighters in Glendale, Ariz., said "goat on the roof" may not be the name of a hit new Broadway musical, but it is occasionally a part of their job.
The Glendale Fire Department said crews were called to "lend a helping hoof" when an "adventurous goat" ended up "a little too high up" on a home.
Photos from the "rooftop rodeo" show firefighters climbing up on the roof to bring the goat back down to earth.
The grateful goat was reunited with its owner.
Police on British Columbia's Quadra Island said a witness called reporting hearing someone repeatedly shouting "help" and they feared someone had fallen off a cliff and was injured.
The RCMP's report stated: "Further investigation revealed that the 'help' heard was actually a sad goat from neighboring goat farm."
The farmer explained to police that the goat was a mother and was calling for her babies.
"Officers did note on scene that the cries did sound similar to someone yelling for help," the RCMP said. "Thankfully, officers confirmed all was well and nobody, besides the mama goat, were in any kind of distress."
