Among my favorite animals at the State Fair are the goats...
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| "Pssst! Lady! See that red box to the right? No, YOUR right! If you put a quarter in it, you can feed me!" |
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| Just behind the row of Feed Me pens was an enclosure with a bunch of baby goats... er, kids, I think they're called. Anyhow, sorry for the blurred photo, but the fox terrier-size critters were in a sort of constant orbiting hyperkinetic Brownian motion and consequently the chainlink around their enclosure had a more-or-less continuous lamination of kids, three third-graders deep the whole way 'round. |
22 comments:
Goatsy... :(
Goats are awesome. People who have raised, for instance, sheep, will tell you what blithering idiots they are, and how much nicer goats are to raise and care for. Plus, cuteness.
At Dibney several years back, the goats in the petting zoo would do little mock headbanging battles, which were a hoot to watch. I sure wouldn't stick any part of my anatomy between them, though.
Mmmm. You can really taste the goat. /homer
How did I end up in this part of the internet? Again?
Hate goats!
I raise 'em.
There's no containing them.
They will break out of anything by chewing, ramming, jumping, trampling, etc...
They will also eat anything on our property (other than the abundant grass and weeds) such as our fruit trees, blackberry bushes, strawberry plants, anything in our garden (once again excluding weeds), our chicken feed, and random non-food items left lying around such as shoes, bicycle seats, dolls/teddy bears, etc...
The only way I've found that keeps them *mostly* contained is to buy a harness that goes around their face and head--then you buy plastic-coated steel cable and tether them somewhere. You can't skimp and get a dog collar--they *will* strangle themselves eventually by twisting and turning and rolling over to try to escape.
Have spare cables--they'll eventually twist it enough that it breaks.
Have spare harnesses--they will practically rub their face off against a fence, tree, your leg, etc... until the harness breaks.
In the end, they will still escape.
If they're small enough, you shouldn't have trouble wrestling them back into a harness or re-attaching a new cable.
If they look too big to capture or they start trying to ram you, save yourself the hassle and shoot them. They taste good.
My wife loves goats. Did I mention I hate goats? ;)
I don't trust goats or sheep... its the eyes. Straight out of a Lovecraft novella.
If you know someone who hasn't a care in the world, no problems whatsoever, buy them a goat...
The only useful purpose I have found for goats is cabrito...
Hairy Horseknuckle
Mmmmmm, look at the Cabrito in the second picture. Quierro rinonada!
About the only good use for goats is a herd of billies to keep anyone in their right mind from moving within 3 miles of you.
For an in-your-face confirmation, Tam, ride your bike by a goat farm with a billy. -You'll understand.
Like Aaron said, they destroy EVERYTHING.
Goats are my favorite animals... on tacos.
Had a summer job in HS working on a hobby farm. Guy was away on business a lot and his wife liked animals so she got a menagerie. Horses, a mini burro (liked him), and a few goats of the fainting variety.
Hated those goats with a passion.
Got fed up one day. Boss lady had some friends over one day. I had gotten ahold of a starter's pistol.
Walked over to where the goats were mooching about and squeezed off six shots.
Goats fell over.
Friends freaked out.
I laughed all day.
Boss lady was amused thankfully.
BGM
I agree with Ian. Rectangular pupils just ain't right.
I want fainting goats. They would never cease to amuse me.
Rich
Aaron,
You must be doing something wrong. My parents have been breeding meat goats for years, and they don't seem to have any trouble with keeping them in at all. The electric fence has done a fine job of keeping them where they belong.
I will say that I'll see Tam's pictures, and raise them with this.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingdawg/7778696196
I, too, am a goat fan. One of my favorite critters is Charlie Elvis, a billy goat kid owned (secretly, it's against the law here) by my landlord and his wife. I push my hand against his forehead and he butts right back at it. When I visit their house, I try to have a good index card to feed him. I love goats for their funny-looking weirdness, the strange vertical pupils in their eyes, their skin tags, and their fondness for eating paper.
They are so weird.
P.s. Billy goats have such huge scrota and balls that it's laughable.
I've been around swiss goats mostly, and the milk is good as well as the nature of them. For whatever reason they seem to get along with some horses. Gramps had big draft horses and if you put their goat friend in a separate enclosure, sooner or later a Percheron would reach over the fence, pick the goat up by a horn, and put it in their enclosure. The goat seemed fine with that. They kept the horses calm and got along really well. Maybe it's just the swiss goats that are like that. I know I've worked with sheep too, and they're a huge pain in the ass. Gimme a goat every time.
My neighbor in PA went through his goat phase. He was a city boy and bought all sorts of critters for his 10 acres. He couldn't keep the goats in fence and the always ended up in my horse pasture. No big deal, they do keep the weeds down and the horses mostly ignored them.
I had about a dozen pallets so I built them a big playground in his paddock and the goats were in heaven. They would play king of the mountain all day long.
They got banished when they got loose and played king of the mountain on a yuppies BMW convertable. I think they ate part of the roof as well.
Gerry
As long as they aren't wearing a wedding ring while they perform ...
There is a faint chance that Google's algorithms will now factor your happy little kids into the terror that awaits one that accidently types in the term goatse.
Thus, this may be a happy post.
(Actually, it's a happy post anyway. But spreading simple joy where there was only shocking rudeness makes it extra worthwhile.)
I have seen how these critters can turn bushveld to desert in a decade.
There is a theory that the middle east desertification was due to goats.
But the kids remain cute!
Oh, yes, they are cute, and fun to hang out with. Charlie Elvis was allowed to swim in the landlord's swimming pool, with the humans. He loved it. As I wrote above, I like goats.
One of my Dear Dead Uncles used to use his goats as lawn mowers. He would tether them to an heavy thing, and when he figured they had chopped the grass back enough in that area, he would move the heavy thing. He never had to start up a lawn mower.
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