Goat On The Lam Near Murrieta: Help 'Rosa' Get Home

MURRIETA, CA — Murrieta-area animal lovers are coming together for a common cause: to get this goat back home. Lovingly dubbed 'Rosa,' the domesticated goat first showed up at the Santa Rosa Ecological Reserve off Clinton Keith Road about two weeks ago, but has so far been able to elude capture.

"As far as I know she's a goat that escaped from someone's property in La Cresta," Rob Hicks, a park interpreter for Riverside County Parks told Patch. "She's made it this far and has been hanging out, probably because we still have a little water and food in the area."

However, Hicks and other concerned community members have been trying to wrangle the animal to ensure she doesn't become dinner for another animal in the area.

"She's loosing weight, you can tell," Hicks said. "She's a survivor, but you've got to wonder how much time she can spend out there. I'm not really worried about her in terms of finding enough food, but of course we have predators here... we don't want her to become food for a mountain lion or coyotes."

Linda Reischmann posted on Murrieta Patch earlier this week that when Rosa first got out, there were baby goats with her as well, but they were caught.

Hicks said that Rosa heads back to the visitor center at the Reserve every few days "when she gets lonely" and seems to like women more than men when they try to get near her. Though she's let people get close, she won't let them get too close.

"She's so smart that she knows the body language of the people when they are trying to corral her," he said.

This week, a group almost caught her as she was on Clinton Keith Road. She was even caught on camera.

"A volunteer did try to get her and lasso her but to no avail," Hicks said.

If you happen to spot Rosa, the best thing to do is to call the Visitor Center at the Reserve at 951-677-6951.