Woman Finds Scared Goat in Her Back Yard

WHITEHORSE, Yukon Territory – A woman let her dog out and heard the low growl of a wild mountain goat that decided to take refuge in her back yard on Wednesday.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting that when I got up this morning,” said Jennifer Moorlag. Moorlag said the terrified animal was less than two feet away.

Moorlag took her barking dog to a neighbor who contacted a friend at the Department of Environment. The friend contacted a conservation officer and at around 7:30 a.m. officials arrived at the house.

The goat continued to stand still for close to 1 1/2 hours as seven environment staffers launched a net from the roof of the house. The animal was caught in the net, placed in a crate and relocated.

Mountain goats weigh up to 300 pounds.

Moorlag said she heard coyotes the previous night and suspects they were chasing the goat.

The animal managed to get up on her garbage can, denting the top, and jumped over her fence.

“How he got here is anybody’s guess,” said Dennis Senger, a spokesman for the Department of Environment.

Several residents reported seeing the goat Tuesday.

Initially, conservation officers didn’t seem to believe John Wright, principal of Elijah Smith elementary school, when he called to let them know a goat had just made its way across the parking lot.

“He said, ‘You sure it was a goat?’” Wright said.

While he’s seen coyotes on the school property before, he’s never seen a goat and wonders where it came from.