# Catching Lost Goats



## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

The two goats in the picture are goats that have been found lost in an area just north of me. Apparently they won't let people near them. The local animal shelter is trying to locate the owners. 

They look to be healthy and well maintained. In the picture, the hooves of the black and white goat look great. So they definitely have owners out there! 

I have already volunteered in the effort to catch them. But how would ya'll recommend we go about doing that? If we can get a large enough group of people, it could be easy if we can corner them. But if only a couple show up, it could be a lot harder. 

I am going to see if the person who snapped the picture can put out a pan with a little grain at the same time of day, to get them used to a familiar person. I hope we can get them caught soon though, coyotes are common around here. 

I hope they have ear tattoos, it could help locating the owner.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Find someone who is excellent with a rope....I had one get loose and head downtown one day. Only way we caught her was a guy with a rope....


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

I agree that they look to have owners.. They look like a good weight and well cared for.. Could be that the buck broke out and the B&W one followed lol

I agree with the grain idea.. Seems like it would be the best option to start with...


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

can they get corralled into a fenced in area?

I agree with the grain


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Can someone put up fence panels?


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I'd look into some kind of temporary fencing that you can herd them into. If you try to corner them they could become terrified and end up hurting someone with their horns.

Maybe some kind of tall fence you can put up, herd them into it enough that you can bring the ends together once they are inside enough? 

Otherwise I agree if someone knows how to rope, that would be a good idea.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Ha!!! We have a loose/wild goat just north of me as well lol. My plan is to send my brother and his rope out to catch him if he shows up. But my brother is one of the best ropers I have ever seen. If you guys can't get someone good at roping.....and I mean good because goats seem to see the rope coming from a mile away and can dodge it the I would try food. But a goat is smart and should go home at night. Maybe if you try and watch them when it starts to get late in the day you can follow them home. But there is a chance some one dropped them off.....we have a lot of animal drop offs around here


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

They do look good and cared for. I wonder if they are just scared. Had anyone put signs out to tell people that there are two goats loose? Maybe they will come up to the owner and the owner has not idea where they are.


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## milk and honey (Oct 31, 2010)

Put a notice on Craigslist too


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

The word is already being spread around here. They gotta show some proof of ownership, of course, in order to claim them. 

Apparently the farm they are hanging out on has a fenced in garden (deer proofing). And they've stayed there for a few days. So the idea will be to lure the goats in there with food, then shut them in. Once they're contained, then they can be caught. 

I don't think many people around here are skilled with roping. We don't really have cowboys here in the UP that need to rope cattle on a regular basis.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

The grain idea would work best I think, once they hear that pan rattle then are allowed to investigate without stress, I bet it would be easy enough to herd them into the garden enclosure by starting the feed pan routine close to the gate then slowly moving that pan further into the enclosure, they do look as though they were taken care of, you would think that someone is missing them.


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## georgiagirl98 (Jun 30, 2013)

Aww they are cuties lol. Maybe put up a temporary fence (panels?) and leave feed and water in it for them to get them used to Going in it. If it was me I'd probably make some kind of crazy trap door on it lol but thats just me. Maybe see if there are any farmers with well trained cattle dogs that could help? Or like some said get someone who can rope and ride. 
... The more i think about this the more fun/hard im thinking it would be to catch a wild goat haha, im thinking a lost goat would be way harder to catch than a lost calf.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

How are things going?


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

A few shelter workers are going door to door in the area they are in with a picture, to try and locate the owners. They feel if the owner can be found, someone familiar might help with catching them.


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## LegendsCreekFarm (Dec 27, 2011)

Grain. Goats will do anything for it. Better yet, get sweet feed with molasses.


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

Update:

The door to door search turned up nothing that could locate the owners. UPAWS is going to go ahead with rounding them up, tomorrow probably.

Somewhat serendipitously, my Dad and I recently completed work on our garden. It is 75 x 75 foot, made with no climb goat fencing. It was built to keep goats and deer out. And you know what? It'll be great at keeping these two in. So I've volunteered to house them until the owner can be found. If no owner is found, they will be put up for adoption, and I will foster them until then.

If it comes to adoption, the intact buck should definitely be turned into a wether by a vet beforehand! But I'll discuss that with UPAWS if it comes to that.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I hope you guys can easily catch them. That is really nice of you to foster them. :thumbup:


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

Good on you, Stacy! :thumbup:


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Where are these goaties located? I know of a pack goater who didnt tie up his goats the second night out and in the morning they were gone. That was 7 weeks ago in the Crazy mountains in Montana. Just so happens one was found last week and is set to be reunited with his owner.


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

The UP of Michigan. A pretty long way from Montana


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

What a blessing that you will figure them. That is wonderful. Have you put an ad in Craig's list? That buck might be to old to castrate. I hope they have a tag in their ear. That is another great thing about the scrapie tag. It will help locate the owner of they get lost. 
By the way. Grain sites not always work so don't get discouraged if they don't come to you because you have it. 
Good and keep us posted. 
Also be prepared, they might beat up your fence pretty bad. I raise goats with horns and the can and will try to destroy it to get out.


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

Sadly, neither have scrappy tags. 

An update: catching them will either happen on Wednesday or Thursday with a volunteer effort from the shelter and myself. The goats are coming to the exact same farm everyday. The owner of the farm has noted they they are getting more trusting, even coming up onto his deck. The black goat got very close. So he is going to feed them to grain even more of their trust before the big day, hopefully in a spot they can be corralled in and not escape into the woods.


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

And we failed. They took off into the woods. A shame, because one of them is scouring, badly. They had been under the deck, and there were piles of normal poo, and piles of loose stool. 

They are too wary of the fenced in garden, even when we're not there. They've tried putting food only in there, but they won't set a hoof inside the fence. 

We're going to try again. The humane society might be able to get a vet out there with a tranquilzer gun. Given how fast these guys were, and the rough, rough terrain, it might be our best shot (literally). We already know if we get one of them, the other will follow. The female goat actually wanted to come over for treats, but when the male ran away, so did she.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Hopefully you can get them the next time.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

I second the Sweet feed. Mine took a door off to get at it....


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

Darn, I wonder if the person that was going to feed them grain gave them a a bit to much only because they are not at all use to it.

Hopefully they will get more trusting.


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## goatgirl2021 (Oct 21, 2013)

I have great personal experience with this.....
My very first goat I every got was a togg and I paid $250 for her. As soon as I put her in the pen she cleared it within 30 seconds. She took off across te highway and was missing for six weeks. We tried every possible way to get this goat and we never could. We saw where she had bedded down and realized she was so hungry she began to nurse herself. We decided to put a trap out and we put food in it. Luckily we got her and she was shot but is doing fine now. If a trap doesn't work the go to your vet and you can get a tranquilizer gun. I don't recommend this unless ou have no more options. But I hope I helped!


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## KeninMaine (Jun 7, 2013)

Goats are attracted to other goats. While grain works you need some reason for the loose goats to stick around. We helped a friend capture her loose goats and found that if we put out grain and a couple other goats the others became curious and would drop their guard. If one goat is happily eating the loose goats will come and try to move them out of the feed pan. Of course it helps to set up a catch pen possibly made of a few sections of livestock panels that can be quickly closed off.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

DOGS.
Just did this today. Its stressful for the goat(s) but... get some herding dogs, like border collies and they will herd the goats for you.
I used my giant schnauzer, she caught the little buckling for me (trained enough to hold not bite down like she wants to)-- after I spent a couple hours chasing him and I gave up....


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