Grazing goats wander onto Highway 65 in Lincoln, some hit by traffic, police say
Dozens of goats escaped a Lincoln pasture and wandered Tuesday night onto Highway 65 where some of the animals were struck and killed by vehicles, authorities said.
Lincoln police and officers with California Highway Patrol’s Auburn office responded to calls that a “large amount of goats” escaped from a pasture near Highway 65 and Ferrari Ranch Road, the Lincoln Police Department said in a 9 p.m. Facebook post. The goats temporarily blocked both directions of Highway 65, traffic cameras showed.
“Sadly, a number of them were struck by vehicles” and killed, the post said. The number of goats struck is unknown.
The animals were eventually rounded up into a nearby parking lot with the help of Placer County Animal Services, Lincoln police said.
The city of Lincoln uses goats to graze grasslands from about Jan. 1 to June 30 each year as a way to keep vegetation down and curb fuel for brush fires.
Other cities, such as West Sacramento, and private landowners also employ goats in the late winter and early spring for the same purpose.
