Originally posted at NBC12 by Karina Bolster. We later determined that it was a deer running into the fence that knocked it over. Luckily it told it’s friends and the fence remained intact for the rest of the job. Check out the link to see the video.
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) – A group of goats and sheep escaped their “work site” Monday morning roaming a Richmond neighborhood near the Henrico County line.
Fourteen goats and sheep from RVA Goats were working in a client’s yard on Tempsford Lane when they made their great escape.
“I guess one of the posts fell down somehow,” said Kristi Orcutt, with RVA Goats. “Maybe a branch fell on it or something and the fence was down, and the goats were like, ‘hey, let’s see what there is to eat out there.’”
RVA Goats is landscaping company and farm from Chesterfield which rents out goats for brush and weed management.
“We call them the chew crew,” Orcutt said. “They chew a lot of that overgrown stuff… so that the yard belongs to the homeowner.”
Linda Hochstein, who lives near the job site, got a text from her neighbor with a picture of the goats on her street.
“She asked if I got new pets,” Hochstein said. “So, I threw some clothes on and ran outside.”
Hochstein tracked the group to Hampton Hills Lane where she worked to keep them together for roughly 2.5 hours.
“I’m trying to get them down here so these ladies can pull out,” she said.
It was an adventure for Hochstein, an animal lover. For roughly an hour, Hochstein managed to keep the group together by herself. NBC12 aided in the corralling by blocking off the road with a car, only moving it for other cars.
Hochstein’s family and neighbors also dropped off snacks to entice and distract the group.
“They love Cheez-Its,” she said.
Orcutt said there were a total of 16 goats and sheep at the client’s property, two did not join the group.
“They missed the exodus,” she added. “Evidently they weren’t paying attention because everyone usually goes together since they’re pack animals.”
The group had traveled two streets west of their location before they were corralled into Orcutt’s trailer.
“It was a great Monday morning for me,” Hochstein said. “It really was, and it was great seeing all their different personalities.”
Hochstein’s main focus was making sure they all stayed in a group and away from cars, especially up on heavily traveled Cary Street near Three Chopt Road, until they could reunite with their owner.
“[It was] somewhat [of a] panic, somewhat relief that there was someone who loves animals that was there keeping an eye on them,” Orcutt said.
Hochstein is used to dealing with a large number of animals, but nothing like this! In 2016, NBC12 helped her find a van in order to help her friend transport dogs from kill shelters across the state in order to find them new homes.
Monday’s experience was quite different.
“I mean this is fun,” she said. “I didn’t have to drive anywhere to get them.”
