Darn Kid

“The goat was laying there, looking real innocent.”

Cheryl Stein, Owner of the Ravenna laundromat

Photo by Evelyn Simak (Creative Commons)

Thanks to a 15-pound goat, Ravenna, Michigan (population 1,206) is getting its 15 minutes of fame. And both the goat and the fame have residents scratching their heads in bewilderment.

The tale of the town and goat began when the goat escaped from the Ravenna livestock sale in early March. Try as they might, no one’s been able to catch the cagey critter.

It was a small town story until the goat, which would’ve fetched about $20 at the sale, caused $300 in damage head-butting a reflection of itself in the window of the local laundromat. Since then, the story’s gone viral. Reporters from as far away as Chicago and New York have called, and even Saturday Night Live gave the goat a mention.

But Jim Nutt, owner of the town’s bowling alley, says the goat is a nuisance, not a star. It poops in his parking lot and sleeps in his bushes. Darn kid.

Read more:

■  Heather Lynn Peters, Rogue pygmy goat wreaks havoc in Muskegon County's Ravenna Township, MLive.com, March 7, 2012.

■  Heather Lynn Peters, Ravenna Township residents baffled by pygmy goat notoriety, media attention, MLive.com, March 14, 2012.