Photo: Instagram/TriMet.
Two pygmy goats hitched a ride aboard a Portland, Oregon, public bus in August.
I commuted by train and bus for around 20 years and the most interesting things I saw were musicians and fancy shoes. Having read today’s story, I feel indignant: how come I never saw barn animals try to get on board?
Neil Vigdor wrote at the New York Times that such things can happen.
“There was not a moment to spare. The doors to the TriMet bus, which was heading west on Tuesday morning toward downtown Portland, Ore., had started to close when they opened for two stragglers. Neither paid the fare. …
“Not in the case of these two juvenile goats, which transit officials and the police said had escaped from their enclosure and ventured onto a lime green FX2-Division bus.
“Security camera footage chronicled their strange escapade, showing some other passengers doing a double take before … the driver reopened the doors. …
” ‘They don’t have a valid pass,’ the driver playfully told the other passengers as the goats exited the bus.
“The goats belong to a family that lives less than two blocks from the bus stop and are named Billy the Kid and Billy the Goat, Lrae Anderson, who identified himself as the owner, said in an interview on Friday.
“ ‘I couldn’t believe that they actually went across the busy street and tried to get on the bus and all that,’ Mr. Anderson said. …
“Mr. Anderson, 48, a rapper who also goes by the name Copper Loc, said his children — he has four sons — sometimes forget to close the gate of the goats’ enclosure.
“A neighbor brought the goats back to their home the same day, Mr. Anderson said, noting that he had since installed a lock and improved the fencing. Mr. Anderson said the family acquired the goats about three months ago after moving to the property at the suggestion of a friend, who told him they would feed on plentiful blackberries from sticker bushes on the property. …
“Footage of the horned interlopers, which TriMet posted on Wednesday to Instagram, had amassed more than 5.4 million views, according to the transit agency. …
“Not every passenger paid much attention to the escapees, video footage from inside the bus showed.
“ ‘I see the one lady,’ Mr. Anderson said. “She’s sitting there and she’s on her phone and she didn’t even notice the goats on the bus.’ …
“As he was preparing for a rap show in Seattle scheduled for Saturday, Mr. Anderson said the episode had provided musical inspiration.
“ ‘I’ve already started making a song about the goats,’ he said.”
More at the Times, here.
