Goat Love

Two months ago we got goats. We now are the proud caretakers of four Pygora goats and one La Mancha. Such sweetness - who knew?! Pygoras are fiber goats (we've already had our first shearing) and little Mei-Mei, the La Mancha will be the start of our dairy herd. There have been some learning curves. Fencing, feeding, goat integration, fencing, vet care, fencing, and, oh yeah, there was that day we came home from a day in the city to find a mangled goat in our pasture (see fencing). That was a hefty introduction to emergency veterinary care. Can you say "Sunday"? Sure you can. I'll spare you the gory details. Suffice it to say that our Zoe escaped the fence and decided to visit the neighbor dog who promptly and viciously recalled his wolf roots. Yikes. I may never own another dog. Luckily for us, the neighbors were neighborly and we now all have active electric fencing - doubly so between our two properties. And, wonder of wonders (miracle of miracles), no escapes of either the caprine or canine variety since.

So yesterday, little Mei-Mei was acting very coquettish with our wethers. And they were returning the interest. A pretty funny sight considering that they have absolutely no capability of siring anything. That wee (pun FULLY intended) fact did not stop them from fighting non-stop over her. It was like the 8th grade boys locker room out there. By the end of the day, both boys had bloody heads. And Mei-Mei got to take a trip to her "home" farm for a date with Mystic Hollow's "Greco". I took my camera along, but thought better of it once the action began. Suffice it to say that I now know what people mean when they say, "the old goat!" about human men. It's not a compliment.

And maybe our Mei-Mei will deliver a blessing (or two or three) to the farm this May. Meanwhile, you should smell the Honda!