'Weapons of grass destruction' captured in N.Y.
On-the-lam goats caught after slipping past fence at heavily guarded bridge
Video |
Goats as lawnmowers? July 19: A group of goats in Staten Island, N.Y., is working with the National Park Service to pull up weeds. NBC’s Mara Schiavocampo reports. Nightly News |
Slide show |
Animal Tracks Find an in-love Afghan hound, a bathing baby leopard and more eye candy for animal lovers. more photos |
Video: Pet health |
Advice from the ‘Dog Whisperer’ Oct. 7: Cesar Millan, host of National Geographic’s “Dog Whisperer,” gives advice on making your dog feel welcome in the family. |
Most popular |
| |||||
Video |
Goats trek to greener pastures June 19: Hundreds of goats are herded to rich, green pastures that some believe may contribute to tastier goat cheese. Msnbc.com's Dara Brown reports. msnbc.com |
NEW YORK - It was a report calculated to send chills through those charged with anti-terrorist vigilance in New York City: Bearded intruders secretly penetrate heavily guarded transportation site.
But it turned out the would-be trespassers were goats imported by the National Park Service to clean up poison ivy and other unwanted weeds at historic Fort Wadsworth, a 200-year-old Revolutionary War rampart on Staten Island near the Verrazano Bridge.
Brian Feeney, a park service spokesman, said the goats are brought down yearly from a farm near Rhinebeck, New York, and escaped about two weeks ago.
According to officials, the dozen goats — or, as the Daily News described them, "weapons of grass destruction" — managed to slip under a metal fence separating the fort from bridge property, without setting off electronic alarms or sensors installed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to guard against intruders.
'No security breach'
In a statement, the MTA's Bridge and Tunnel Division said the fence was not actually part of the bridge protection system. Because the animals did not get past a second, more formidable fence, the agency said, "there was no security breach" affecting the bridge that spans New York harbor between Staten Island and Brooklyn.
The goats were spotted by a human bridge guard, rounded up and put back in their pen at Fort Wadsworth.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
- Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM WEIRD NEWS |
| Add Weird news headlines to your news reader: |




