Parkway goats on the lam

WALL - No one is trying to get your goat. That's exactly what you thought you saw while cruising past Garden State Parkway Exit 100.

And, well, frankly, no one has been successful in getting these kids either. Two elusive goats — one white, one black, ages unknown — have evaded would-be rescuers from the Associated Humane Societies of New Jersey for about a month now, said Veronica Ehrenspeck, general manager for the Monmouth County branch in Tinton Falls.

"We’ve tried food, we’ve tried bringing other goats there, and they are just running from us every time we go," she said.

While these wayward goats might be wily, it's concern for their safety that is keeping the critters from capture, Ehrenspeck said. Officials fear the goats will run into traffic on the Parkway and have been cautious while approaching them. Ehrenspeck asks the public to not approach the goats for the same reason.

(But if you must see cute goats, check out this video of the herds that eat poison ivy.)

The goats are so skittish, Humane Society staff haven't been able to get close enough to get photos or determine how old they are, Ehrenspeck said.

No one's quite sure how these goats got to the side of the highway in the first place. It's clear someone owns them — wild goats aren't common in New Jersey — but no one has come forward to say their goats are missing, Ehrenspeck said.

Humane Society staffers thought they had a lead when they found a hole in a fence to a nearby farm, but the property owners say they have no goats.

"They are willing to help us corral them if (the goats) show up on their property," she said.

Meanwhile, rescuers are brainstorming ways to capture the goats, with the latest idea being to put out a feeding station so the animals will continue coming to the same spot, Ehrenspeck said.

And it could help with another concern: "The white one is starting to get a little thin, so we’re starting to worry," she said.

Susanne Cervenka: 732-643-4229; scervenka@gannettnj.com