Courtesy of Danielle Langloism, Wikipedia CCLChatting With Fredo
If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that goat people love to talk about their goats. Unlike many cattle ranchers or poultry raisers, get a goat herder on the topic and you’d better pack a lunch. Goat folks never run out of things to say about their herd. Or your herd. Or someone else’s herd. Goats, goats, goats. Why is that? Is that goats are so precocious? Or perhaps because there are so many breeds that one could debate the merits of each for hours on end? Or is it just that goats are so much fun and so entertaining that we just never run out of things to say about them?
After a back breaking afternoon of shoveling and raking gravel (don’t ask), I took a break down in the goat yard. I had been watching one of the wethers climbing around on top of the goat shed and thought, “now that looks like a good place to sit and soak up the sun.” So that’s what I did. I took my book and beverage, climbed up on the goat shed and surveyed my realm.
The book didn’t get read though as I was too busy watching the goats. An Alpine doe decided to lay on top of a big electrical spool. This year’s kids were bopping around trying to decide who was going to be in charge. My latest mama was eating her way across the yard, muttering under her breath at her 3 week old baby. Once vacated, I made a foray over to the spool and vied for control with two of the youngsters. I won, of course.
Dori, born in late February, was a bit perturbed that she couldn’t join me on the spool or the shed but she made valiant efforts to do so. I made my way back across the yard joined by those wanting a little nibble of my jacket and giving head rubs and snuggles to everyone who asked.
Back to the top of the shed, Fredo, the wether who sunbathes there, joined me and we sat enjoying the sun and breeze together and chatting quietly about things like grass and weeds and their individual merits. We pondered mysteries like why does Nancy always hold her ears half-cocked, why does Dudley insist upon rubbing his little horns on the back of his human’s calves, whether I should milk the does now that they’re weaing their little ones, and how does Hiram keep getting out in the pasture. He didn’t have much to add but he’s an excellent listener.
It was quite an evening….and one that may help to explain why we goat people rarely run out of “all things goat” to talk about.
