A goat of unknown origin is leading county and Gaithersburg police on a wild goo—er, goat chase, and at last check remains on the lam.

At one point or another, more than a dozen police and animal control officers took part in the zigzagging, hour-long chase before the goat found its way onto the CSX railroad and disappeared—for now—into its forested borders.

Police received the first report at 8:47 a.m. from workers at the Chevy’s restaurant at the intersection of Clopper and Quince Orchard Roads.

When Patch arrived on the scene shortly after 9:30 a.m., the goat raced across the intersection of Clopper and Quince Orchard, heading west along the NIST fence line.

As county and Gathersburg officers closed in, the goat darted past them and into the shopping center, where, to the delight of a dozen on-lookers, the goat escaped capture again, racing across the parking lot and onto northbound Clopper Road.

This isn’t the first time a goat has been on the loose in Gaithersburg, said one exhausted animal control officer, who said the animals aren’t too different from chasing a deer or a large dog.

“Yeah, except these are fast,” he said.

After weaving through a gauntlet of commuters and police cruisers on Clopper, the goat made a beeline for the Gaithersburg MVA—or was it toward the taco trucks lined up across the street?—where officers seemingly had it cornered yet again.

Another near escape, another chase on foot and by car.

A group of well-meaning citizens then came up empty-handed when the goat wandered into a courtyard of a nearby apartment complex.

“I done grew up with goats,” said one hard-breathing man. “All you need is some bread.”

From there, the goat raced past the MVA and onto the CSX railroad tracks.