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Does Boston have a goat problem? One 311 report filer says yes.
Who's trolling Boston 311?
Stray goats in Boston? Unlike turkeys, it isn’t exactly an everyday occurrence. For reasons unclear, several seemingly falsified goat incidents have been reported to Boston 311 recently.
Someone is reporting stray goats around Beacon Hill, downtown Boston, and Dorchester. The images appear to be artificially generated or photoshopped.
The three reports of the fake goats were submitted last month to Boston 311, a service to report problems like overflowing trash, graffiti, or damaged street signs to the city. In the searchable 311 database, one Bostonian appears to be trolling city workers with images of goats in the “rodent activity” category.
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“Kind of weird, but there’s a legit goat wandering around,” someone reported on Nov. 21 “Corner of Chestnut and Brimmer. Someone must have left it – but it’s wet and smelly.”
The image, which appears artificially generated, is orange-tinted, with a detailed goat standing in the middle of a wet road. 311 noted that the image doesn’t match the intersection. They closed the ticket a day later.
It appears the original poster learned from the comment. On Nov. 24, they shared a picture of a goat superimposed in front of an apartment building they said is on Beacon Street.
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The main image looks more realistic, but it appears the white goat was edited over a trash can with software like PhotoShop.
“Second time that I’ve seen a goat this week – this one was loose near the commons,” they wrote.
The 311 team took a few days to close the ticket this time, saying “Noted,” on Nov. 27. “Not an Environmental Services issue. No contact information.”
As the ticket closed, another goat was reported in Dorchester next to yard waste bins. This final image reported on Nov. 27 is the most realistic, albeit similar to the Beacon Street goat. However, the image of the goat appears to be a cut-out, standing out against the background.
“Trash needs picked up – stray goats are starting to get into it,” the ticket said.
The next morning, the 311 ticket was closed, noting “no signs of goats.”
311 and the City of Boston were contacted for a comment, but did not reply in time for publication.
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