Goodbye To Ping, Pong and Peanut
Well, the big news is, of course, that Ping, Pong and Peanut have left the playground. They were supposed to be picked up on Monday but as it happened things canged and they went on Friday. Dennis sent me a message about it, but I didn’t see it until Saturday. So I didn’t get to say goodbye to them.
Here’s what I posted on Facebook about it.
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Okay, sorry about vaguebooking this morning. I probably should have specified that it wasn’t a family health crisis or anything like that.
But we’ve had to say goodbye to 3 goats at the playground. And for me that’s very tough.
I knew it was coming, but there’d been some back’n’forth about when exactly it would be. They were planned to leave today in fact, but then on Friday Dennis sent me a text saying that they were being picked up and if I could make it there. Unfortunately I didn’t see that message until Saturday. So, I didn’t get to say goodbye. I guess in a way I dodged the toughest part, actually seeing them being taken. But it was tough enough today, opening up and finding 4 goats instead of 7. So different now. You really feel the hole left behind.
Oh yeah, and the goats that have gone are the twins Ping&Pong and Peanut. I know the last one is going to be a bit of a shocker to some (Sorry, Cyd). It was a surprise to me too when they told me. I’m not sure why they wanted Peanut, I can only guess they wanted an older goat to have along with the twins. And since we can’t let Mio, Mia or Palle go that left him. It’s pretty sad. I knew the new, unplanned babies were likely to have to go at some point. But Peanut was supposed to stay. Even when he spent that time away earlier in the year, the plan was always for him to come back and be a forever goat here. That’s why we paid to get him castrated. So, it sucks. And what’s worse is… I thought since Peanut was going we could get to keep Fuzzy to take his place. But it sounds like Fuzzy will have to leave soon too. The reasoning being that bucks get too big and wild. And that does make some sense. Even though I love Peanut and he was super sweet, he was also big and strong with a little extra temper and huge, outbound horns. When we had kids visiting the goats I always paid extra attention to make sure Peanut was playing safe. And Fuzzy is a lot like Peanut. His horns are growing the same way, he’s got a bit of a wild streak too. So, I can see the sense for a place like ours to make that decision. It just sucks. A lot. You know, if we’d had Fuzzy castrated when he was a little baby he probably would have beenbetter suited for our playground….
But whatever. I can’t do anything about it. It’s not up to me. Once again I have to say goodbye to goats that I’ve spent more time with than I’ve spent with humans.
The only good thing about it is that it sounds like their new home is a good place. It’s a woman who has taken them, and Mars described her as “a bit of an old hippie type”. And they’re going to be pet goats. I think the plan is for the twins to be castrated too. So they’re not going to be goats for profit, they’re just going to be loved pets. And the twins will have a great leader in mighty Peanut. He’s already had experience adjusting to a new home before and he’s super smart and independent. I am sure they’ll be a formidable trio.
I’m just going to miss them. It was eerily quiet today. A rainy morning. Spent time inside with the 4some, watching them eat hay. And then out on grass, despite the rain. I pretty much let Mio drag me around where she wanted. I feel sorry for her, having he babies taken away. She wasn’t super clingy to them anymore, but it still pains me that we do this to her. It’s almost enough to make me want to stop going there, for the playground to not have goats anymore. But then, I can’t abandon them of course.. I don’t know if they need me more than I need them, or vice versa.
Later on the rain stopped and it was fairly warm. Sat in the pen, again spending lots of time with Mio. Lots of nuzzles and treats.
I’ve been through this before, and it never gets easy. It just fucking sucks.
Thank you everyone for the concerned comments. Sorry if I worried you. I’ll be okay.It’s not the end of the world. But it is saying goodbye to good friends, without even getting to say goodbye. It’s losing something you love.
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Yeah, so that happened. Things are quite different at the playground now. A lot quieter. But we go on. And I’ve had lots of good support from the Facebookers.
Now I’m just waiting to see what will happen with Fuzzy.
Here are photos.
And videos.
And that’s all for this week, folks. See you in the next one.