Lawn-mowing goats and rams escape, wander through Michigan town

Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A herd of goats and rams rented to graze on an overgrown Michigan lawn wandered away from the home and were rounded up by police.

The Southfield Police Department said officers responded to a report of loose goats wandering through a neighborhood Monday and arrived to find several goats and rams behind a resident's house.

The resident told police the animals did not belong to him.

The goats and rams were rounded up and taken to Macomb County Animal Control.

Police said the animals had been rented from a Tecumseh farmer to clear overgrowth from a Southfield lawn, but they got loose and went wandering through the town. They will be returned to their owner, police said.

Goats have become a popular, eco-friendly alternative to traditional landscaping services in recent years.

Officials in Orange County, Calif., who employed a herd to clear weeds from the county fairgrounds, said the animals not only clear unwanted plants, but they break up the soil and provide fertilizer for future planting.