Ninja Nanny Neatly Nabbed

Well, the long, strange trip is finally over for the Ninja Nanny of Decatur. This is the goat who has led the locals on a merry chase for weeks now. (Earlier posts here, here and here.) All it took was getting the right expert involved. A sheep dog.

From the first time someone spotted the black nanny goat running into Decatur traffic, she seemed to be on everyone’s A-list. Her elusiveness brought her legendary status, as she became slicker than Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in avoiding the law.

Calls and e-mails of sightings poured into The Daily from readers. A golfer tried to capture her in his cart at Decatur Country Club, a posse of city animal control officials gave chase and police tried to subdue her by stunning her with a Taser, which she neatly dodged.

All it took was a call to Decatur sheep farmer Chet Ellis. He captured Baasheba after his border collie, Jim, cornered her Friday in the backyard of a home on Country Club Lane.

Ellis, 75, said Mindy Gilbert from Decatur Animal Control first phoned him a week ago.

“She said she heard I had a dog that could catch a goat,” he said. “I said, ‘I think he can.’ ”

While earlier capture attempts closely resembled old Mack Sennett movies, this one was highly professional. Jim the border collie had the goat cowed in under ten minutes.