Goat Stampede Gnarls Traffic, Prevents Wildfires

Not your typical traffic jam slowed commuters on Friday afternoon, when hundreds of charging goats made their way down a hill and on to the highway outside of Berkeley.

The goat herd wound their way through eucalyptus trees  before voyaging across the street in front of a stunned crossing guard holding up a stop sign to ensure that the ornery, whiskered creatures weren’t run over.

At the end of the goat parade, a herder and his dog followed closely, checking to see that no goats were left behind.

SFGate reported that the goats belong to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Once a year they are liberated into the hills to eat the grass. The maneuver helps reduce dry grass and diminishes chances of wildfires.

This is not the first time that goats in Northern California have been used to clear away potential fire hazzard brush. Breitbart News reported last July the city of San Rahael used goats–who will eat just about anything, including thick grass, thorny vines, and trash–to trim a grassy swath of land used by homeless people to camp out. Unfortunately, they were prone to leaving campfires unattended, which didn’t sit well with the local community.