A-Z Challenge - G is for Goats

Today's post is brought to you by the letter G.

I'll admit it. I like goats. Not as much as my friend Tracy Farr, who has written a whole book about goats, but I have enjoyed my goats. So have some of my grandchildren who loved to come and feed grandma's "doats."

Banjo, Lucy, Millie

One of my first encounters with a goat was when our oldest daughter was about three years old and we took her to a petting zoo. She was so excited to get a bottle and go into the enclosure to feed the young goats and sheep. Problem was, one of the goats kept wanting to eat the tassel on our daughter's hat. She bonked the goat on the head with the bottle and said she was done.

It's not surprising that her kids are not the ones who were so excited to feed the goats. Although to be fair to that daughter, she does inquire about my animals when she calls.

When I first moved to our little place in the country, I made the mistake of getting a billy goat and a Barbados Ram. They were both so cute as babies, but grew up to be most difficult to deal with, so I sold them and got a Nannie goat. We named her Lucy for no particular reason other than it was the first name that came to mind. When Lucy runs to the fence to get a treat, she does a little prance step that almost looks like dancing.

She runs to the fence often. In fact, every time I go out the back door she dashes over to see if I am bringing out a treat.

Not long after we bought Lucy, we decided to get her a goat companion, and we named the new girl, Millie. Again, not for any particular reason.

The first small animals were acquired to first clear the back three acres of brambles and brush, and boy did they. It looks like a park back there now. But I also got them to be companions for my horse. Since they are all herd animals, they do prefer company than being in a large fenced area alone.

Food? Do you have food for me?

Millie died last year of a snake bite, so that left me with one goat and one horse, which has been fine all winter as they are both in the back pasture together. However, when the horse gets moved to the front pasture for the summer, that would leave Lucy alone, so I got her a new companion; a little lamb, Marie. I did not name her, my neighbor  did. She was one of twins whose mother died after giving birth, so my neighbors hand-raised the two lambs, one male and one female. They named them, Donny and Marie. I didn't ask my neighbor why.

Could you make the goat leave me alone?

Right now, Lucy is not real happy about Marie being there. Lucy is a bit of a pig, so if Marie comes by Lucy's feed dish, or Lucy's hay, or the green stuff I have pulled and thrown over the fence, Lucy chases Marie off.

I hope she gets over it soon. I will be moving the horse to the front by the end of this month. The grass is looking good out there.