She’s the one who likes the agility course the best.
And she likes climbing on me too.
Especially if there are raisins as a reward.
Preben, the trouble maker. Ready for trouble.
Sigrid and some kids dropped a pumpkin off for the goats. Bob tried to eat it, but it was too tough to bite through. And the others didn’t seem interested in it. They got scared when I rolled it around on the ground though. Anything that rolls is dangerous, they seem to think.
I went and got some fresh branches with green leaves. And stuck them in the middle of the little agility setup. The goats immediately attacked and devoured.
Even when the leaves are gone Mia will still go back for the branches.
Holding on.
This is Mia standing on my back while I’m standing up, Video below.
Back on my back.
For raisins. Mia trying to smash the pumpkin. Or stand on it at least.
Staring contest with Bob.
Fun times. Bob managed to escape the fold too. Which is amusing since the fence was rebuilt for the new fold and made extra secure. But he still found a loophole. When he has his mind set on a walkabout it’s hard to stop him.
Sigrid told me that their next project will be to build a canopy in the fold. She told me this as I was sitting in the rain with Mia. Will be nice to have some cover so I can sit out there when it’s raining without getting wet. Although I have no idea how long it will be before it’s done. It could be a while.
On with some videos.
The first one is a lot of fun. Mia stands on my back and I stand up. I actually got her to jump straight up on my back while I was standing, but in the video I’m sitting down when she jumps up. But still. Standing with a goat on your back is rather amusing.
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Next a goatlog with lots of hay eating. And some kids having fun with the goats too. Bob gets a lot of laughs.
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And the last goatlog, with the pumpkin. Also a guy with a water blower thing came to clean the birdcage. And the goats fled to the other side of the fold. He even left the gate to the fold open when he stopped but it took a while before Kamel carefully approached, at which point I went and closed it.
That’s all for now. We’ve had a nice weekend. I think Saturday may have reached 15C. Oh I miss the summer weather, a lot already. We should get back on that global warming thing. Al Gore was right.
Time for the weekly roundup of goat pictures and videos. And I’m afraid there are rather a lot of pictures this time. I’m terribly sorry. I’ll try to restrain myself in the future.
Although, probably I won’t.
We start off with some pictures of Sir Bobs-alot
His face is starting to get that adult goat look. He’s not a cuddly little baby anymore. Although the woolly neck makes him nice and soft. When the sun does peek out he gets really warm and cozy in that fur coat. The white socks and white tip-o-the-tail are still adorable. And he has had the pleasure of not having to wear a collar lately. He is usually allowed to walk around on his own even when some of the other goats are on a leash. So I guess they decided that there’s no reason for him to wear a collar if he isn’t being tied down anyway. I like that. I like that he gets to roam. He usually stays close to the flock anyway. Without Preben to accompany him he doesn’t seem to want to go up into the residential block anymore. At least I haven’t seen him go up there on his own.
On to a whole bunch of pictures of little Mia. She must be just about 2 months old now, according to my calculations.
I love the two of them together like that. Mia and mama Mio. She’s such a little sweetheart and she makes me very happy. I have trained her pretty well to jump up on my back. And when the day gets late and the sun comes out and warms things up I like to sit and have her relax in my lap while she chews her cud and all is right in the world.
Next up pictures of Mio the mother.
Still the sweetest, gentlest goat. Around people. Around the other goats she can be quite bossy now! And when they’re in the fold and she senses there are people inside the stable or on the other side of the building she’ll baah in the hopes of dinner time coming around. She has a very characteristic bleat, quite different from the other goats. It’s like she’s permanently a little hoarse or her vocal chords are a little damaged. Or something like that. Like she can’t quite let go and baah the way the others do. Sweet, though.
And now some pictures of Kamel, who is a goat and not a camel at all.
Those folded ears get me every time. It’s so adorable. Sigrid was talking to one of the kids about it the other day. “I have no idea how it happened, it’s not like it’s something we have done to her!” she said. It’s so precious. One of my good Facebook friends, Shannon, is a little in love with those ears too. And she has promised to draw me a picture of Kamel from one of the photos. So I’m looking forward to that.
And now it’s Preben’s turn.
He has some bulging eyes, very clear and focused at times. As you can see on the last one he still enjoys his foot rubs. He’ll put his hoof on me and insist I rub it. And then when I’m done he’ll put up his other leg so I can do the other one.
He is quite a handful now, though. When we got him he was the most well-behaven buck I’d ever met. But not anymore. Not around me, anyway. He is huffing and puffing and challenging me. I don’t know if he is starting to see me as a rival buck or if he’s just excited because the girls are in heat or what. He is smelling a lot worse too and chasing the ladies around a lot more. And when I walk around in the fold he’ll come after me. Maybe it’s because when I stand up I appear taller so he thinks I’m jumping up and trying to butt heads? But I’m not a goat! I don’t have horns. I can’t butt heads with him. When I sit down he doesn’t seem to mind me. Mostly. Although as you’ll see in one of the videos there was one day when he was all agitated and trying to murder me. More or less. I can still handle him, but it does make things a little more complicated. I have to watch out when I’m walking around, otherwise I’ll end up being charged out of nowhere. He’s extremely strong and has those majestic horns. I gotta be careful. Sigrid told me that he had butted her on the rear when she was bending over to pick something up the other day too. But it wasn’t hard or anything. So I’m not sure if I’m the only one he’s really after. Maybe it’s because I spend so much time sitting with the goats that he just sees me as another goat. I would kind of like that, since being a goat is the best thing I can imagine. On the other hand, maybe he’s just a jerk! I still love him, though. Even though I have to go to the supermarket stinking like buck after I leave the playground…
One final picture:
This was taken by Bodil. She wanted to get a picture of me with Mia on my back. But of course the other goats immediately interfered and demanded attention. But Bodil was rather amused by this picture of my head popping up behind a sea of goats. I could probably make a nice Where’s Waldo picture with me in a flock of goats.
Good times. Now for a couple of videos.
First one:
You can see a little of Preben’s reactions to me. And general cuteness. A boy came into the fold and wanted to pet Mia, but she can be hard to catch sometimes!
Second video:
There’s more of Preben’s huffing and puffing. And he even tries to ram me. I had to restrain him a little. Scratching him seemed to calm him down, temporarily. Later on he gets a foot rub and behaves much nicer. And there’s more cute stuff with Mia and the others of course.
And that’s all for this week. Hope you enjoyed my goaty friends. I know I do.
