When residents of a neighbourhood in Boise, Idaho in the US opened their doors on Friday morning, it wasn’t the usual sight of a newspaper sitting on porch steps and gardens that greeted them.

What they instead saw was a herd of more than 100 goats rampaging around the neighbourhood, destroying flower beds and lawns as they moved from yard to yard.

As it turned out, the animals were originally corralled near an Ada County Highway District retention pond broke through the fence surrounding them – possibly because they were bored – and wandered into the nearby residential areas. They were soon carted away by their handlers, the Idaho Statesman reported.

Pictures and videos of the herd walking around the area went viral and twitter reacted in its usual manner.

All 118 goats are owned by the local business, We Rent Goats, who rent them to landowners to clear large areas of grass and remove weeds. The company said in a statement that it would follow up with the residents whose lawns were damaged.