Where Goats Fear To Tread
Back at the playground.
youtube.com/watch?v=KcfW5Qpp2vs.
Little Smokey is quite the escape artist. Once again he escaped through the fence. Twice. Once again Snow White turned to me and asked for help. In the video you can see the first time it happened and I brought Smokey back into the pen. I think he quite liked getting out and exploring on his own. At least he enjoyed it until the second time, when one of the horsies came up to him and started pushing and chasing him. Then it suddenly wasn’t as funny. He wailed and ran away. And then he went through another fence and got out on the grounds. So I had to go all the way around. And then he went back through the fence into the horse field. But then there were the horsies again and that stopped him, so I could go over the fence and scoop him up and bring him back to safety. And by then I think he had done all the exploring he wanted to do for the day.
Poor Snow White, her voice is so hoarse, she can’t really cry out loudly enough when her kids go astray. It’s easier for Magnethe, if she wants her kids’ attention then we’ll all know about it. Snow White could use a megaphone or something. But her babies are getting more confident all the time, so that’s good. They’re still a bit shy. But I’m working on it. I sat with Bandit in my arms for a long, long time yesterday. He settled in nicely. Although he seemed to be a little freaked out when I started scratching his back. I don’t think he’s been really scratched like that before. So he was a bit jittery at first. But once he got used to it he seemed to like it okay. Strange new people who want to pick you up and scratch you! What a world.
They are all growing. Magnethe’s boys are big enough now that they can jump up on the bench on their own. I’m hoping they will soon figure out how to jump up on my back, because I do enjoy that sort of thing.
Snow White seems to be growing a little too. At least growing a little more of a temper. Now that she has her own kids out and about she is a little less tolerant of Magnethe’s boys. Most of the time she ignores them, but sometimes she will now go and push them away if they get too close. I guess her maternal instincts are kicking in. And that’s not bad, I think that’s how it’s been with all the goats I have known. They’re not too happy about sharing space with other goats’ babies.
When I was sitting down with Bandit Sigrid came into the pen with a guy I didn’t know. It was the vet. He had come to take a look at Magnethe’s blackheaded boy. I hadn’t even noticed anything was wrong, but when I listened to them talking I could see that the little guy was indeed standing sort of scrunched up. Sigrid said that since about Friday he had started getting a little quieter and less active than the other boys. I haven’t really noticed that to be honest, but it’s hard of course when you have limited eyesight and five little boys running around. The vet speculated that it was a tummy problem. Something about the time when they go from just drinking milk to eating solids. And their extra stomachs kick in and all that stuff that I don’t know how to explain in English. But we’ll give the little fella some medicine and hopefully that will help him and he’ll be okay. Fingers crossed for no more problems.
I’m having a lot of fun with them all, that’s for sure.
April 16th, 2011 at 0:13
Such pretty goatzie boys! They are growing so fast. They won’t be little babies for very long.
It’s been raining here today. We finally got caught up with inside work and decided to take a few days off. We’d worked around 10 to 12 days in a row. I even was able to sleep in this morning. We did get some bids ready and checked on a couple of other jobs, so we did work related things today.
My new favorite singing duo is “The Civil Wars”. Check youtube videos on them – Poison and Wine, Dance Me Till the End of Time, Barton Hollow, and their cover of Billy Jean (Michael Jackson’s song). They are really great. You’ve never heard Billie Jean sung like this before!
Mama Calico cat had 5 babies on the 13th. Poor kitty was huge when she was pregnant. She was almost waddling when she walked. Guess where she had them? Yes, in the animals shelter under one of their sleeping bunks. Smart kitty, nothing will get inside the pen without Snickers or the goats knowing about it.
I’m still waiting for the first ruby-throated hummingbird to arrive. I put the feeder out yesterday so I’m ready for them. I’ve been watching the hummingbird map of the US to see where they are. People submit their locations when they spot one of the little migrators.
The males will probably show up here next week, but since we’re having some weather/rain going on, I thought they might get pushed up this way a little sooner. Anyway, I’m ready for them with a nice feeder full of sugar water.
PS: I’m still working on my “book wish list” from Amazon and thinking really hard about The Civil Wars cd.
April 18th, 2011 at 9:40
Debster – I think you deserve a few days off! Maybe a vacation some time?
I looked up The Civil Wars, and they are very good! Beautiful stuff. Never heard of them before but I like them a lot. Thanks for the suggestion!
And thanks for my packages! Amazing stuff. I am very very pleased. You’ve been a great help!
I love the idea of a hummingbird map. I want to make a goat map! A map of all goats in Denmark. Okay maybe it’s not practical or useful. But who cares!