The Trouble with Smart Bucks...
We have this billy goat named Stranger. I’ve talked about him before I think. He was tossed into our yard by someone who apparently thought that we wouldn’t notice the addition. I have taken to calling him BeauCephus because when I go outside he hums to me and sings a little song til I come to him. It’s as if he believes himself to be a siren or something. God’s gift to women of any species!
He has these foot long horns that he likes to play “whack the horn” with. I usually run around with him when I let him out of the pen and play chase for a while then run to the big boulder in the rock field. He’ll hop right up on it and run to the end where I am and we play “whack the horn” for a bit til my hands hurt. Sometimes we play tug a war or king of the mountain too. He’s an amusing outgoing little guy. Only as tall as my thigh if you count the horns but he thinks he’s much bigger.
Well today I’m inside sipping tea and honey for a cold when my housemate yells that the goat is out. I look outside whilst jumping into my shoes and see he’s eating all the strawberry plants in the fenced in front yard garden.
Now this is amazing because he’s opened the gate to his pen which I have thick cotter pins holding closed!! Somehow he whacked the pin out of the hole and opened the door. Then he opened the gate to the front field and let the horses out. Then he opened the gate to the nanny goat’s pen and let the nanny and both babies out. Then he opened the gate to the front garden and proceeded to eat my strawberry plants, onions and rosemary!
He did all of this between when I fed him less than 2 hours ago and now!
This is one smart darn goat! The problem is that I’m going to have to get rid of him if we can’t keep him contained where he’s supposed to be. I see now why so many people build goat pens out of ugly concrete. The boys will simply climb and destroy everything else. He broke a section of chainlink fence in half by using it as a trampoline. The bars folds and broke open making it useless.
On one hand I admire his gumption and ingenuity but on the other I fear for the safety of the other animals and him if he continues to pull a “Pappillion” on me.
Any goat herders out there with good inexpensive ideas for buck goat containment? Lol.
He has these foot long horns that he likes to play “whack the horn” with. I usually run around with him when I let him out of the pen and play chase for a while then run to the big boulder in the rock field. He’ll hop right up on it and run to the end where I am and we play “whack the horn” for a bit til my hands hurt. Sometimes we play tug a war or king of the mountain too. He’s an amusing outgoing little guy. Only as tall as my thigh if you count the horns but he thinks he’s much bigger.
Well today I’m inside sipping tea and honey for a cold when my housemate yells that the goat is out. I look outside whilst jumping into my shoes and see he’s eating all the strawberry plants in the fenced in front yard garden.
Now this is amazing because he’s opened the gate to his pen which I have thick cotter pins holding closed!! Somehow he whacked the pin out of the hole and opened the door. Then he opened the gate to the front field and let the horses out. Then he opened the gate to the nanny goat’s pen and let the nanny and both babies out. Then he opened the gate to the front garden and proceeded to eat my strawberry plants, onions and rosemary!
He did all of this between when I fed him less than 2 hours ago and now!
This is one smart darn goat! The problem is that I’m going to have to get rid of him if we can’t keep him contained where he’s supposed to be. I see now why so many people build goat pens out of ugly concrete. The boys will simply climb and destroy everything else. He broke a section of chainlink fence in half by using it as a trampoline. The bars folds and broke open making it useless.
On one hand I admire his gumption and ingenuity but on the other I fear for the safety of the other animals and him if he continues to pull a “Pappillion” on me.
Any goat herders out there with good inexpensive ideas for buck goat containment? Lol.
posted by Sinsual @ 12:32 PM
1 Comments:
At Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 11:21:00 PM CDT,
Unknown said…
Hello! A friend showed me this as I grew up with goats (one of *the* finest beasties on the face of the planet!)
Instead of cotter pins to close the pen, try a shooting bolt, of the type that can be secured with a padlock -- not that the padlock is necessarily essential (let's hope not anyway!)
He looks like a right trooper -- glad he's in your life -- wish he was in mine!
Cheers, Snorri.
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