07/07/2025
Happy Monday everyone. Mine started out very Mondayish to say the least. It started as usual, let the goats out, get Callie for her morning bottle. That went off without a hitch. With her fed and happy i went to get her some friends in the backyard. By went I mean bribe. We have been trying to get more to get them used to her and sometimes different along with some of the same. So im walking to the gate with my little scoop of alfalfa pellets in hand to happily bribe some goats into spending their day in the backyard. Now as im walking im looking around, in the boys pasture, in the girls, trying to get eyes on all of the goats this wonderfully hot morning. As im scanning my eyes happen into the pond pasture, at which time I abruptly stop my happy meandering because this morning something is not quite right in there. What may you ask had me stopping dead in my tracks, staring to make sure it wasnt just an illusion cast by the heat of the early morning, well that would be good ole happy Mister Graham standing in all his glory right in my pond pasture! Now the girls are out and luckily enough their gate to that pasture is wide open as they typically get free access to it. We also, in our kindness, have a gate from the boys pasture that we open to let them graze in their too. Although we shut the girls gate. Well you see this gate is a wired gate, but it has these two openings at the main top that before today I would have swore no goat could get through. Anyway while my groggy morning brain is trying to process all that I am seeing and running all the wonderfully awful scenarios through my head of what could happen while im frozen I catch the girls in my side eye walking slowly down to the pond pasture. Thankfully Graham is towards his gate and hasn't figured out that.he has full access to all the ladies yet. Nope he is just trying to figure out why no other boy is trying to squeeze their big but through those small holes. They are down their at the gate just staring at him. Finally my shock abates and my body now moving quickly to get into the boys pasture to get to that gate down a small hill before Graham figures out he is the only male in a sea of females. Thankfully I still have scoop of pellets. Since all the boys are down at the gate trying to figure out how he managed to do this, I can make pretty quick time. Although by now Graham has spotted I am in fact holding a scooper filled with food so he is screaming and trying to jump back in through that small hole lest he miss out on some goodies. He isnt having any luck and the girls are tracking me or the scooper, hard to tell at this point, to see where I am heading, so time is of the essence. I get to the gate and love my husband when latches a gate, he latches a gate. Thankfully Graham was kind enough to jump up on the gate to hold it in to allow me to get it unlatched. Gate now slightly open Im coaxing him in, while Buckshot says oohhh look the gate is open. So one hand on the gate and one hand redirecting him, all while my scooper is precariously placed on a post and the girls are coming closer to the pond pasture because they too want whatever im packing. Now I get him in quickly, latch the gate, grab my scooper and think shew the worst is over I just have to make it back up to the other gate to get back to the backyard. Well see thats my mistake, I totally own, see I should have never let that thought loose in my head because now here is where things get really interesting. Somehow, somewhere these boys have got together and apparently run formations about what to do in events like this. I start walking, I have Buckshot in the front, Graham on my left, Pogo on my right and Whiskey at my back. I take a step, they all take a step, I stop they stop. Its the stopping that is problematic. See they dont just stop with me, no that woukd be to simple. Instead Buckshot at my front goes sideways, Whiskey at my back goes sideways and the two at my sides, well they turn to me. So now im boxed in and that is when I learn the extent of their coordinated attacks. Graham jumps up on my side and as I get him down, Pogo does the same. All while Buckshot stands sideways so I cant go forward and Whiskey stands sideways so I cant go backwards. I am officially stuck and bouncing back and forth like im in a pinball machine while standing on an incline. Meanwhile Callie has been yelling because she couldn't come in That pasture and im pretty sure she is cheering them on because I left her there and the girls have now moved to the fenceline to get a better look at what is happening all while im trying to figure out how to fend off this coordinated attack. So out of sheer desperation I drop some of the pellets from my scooper behind me hoping they will all run. It works, somewhat, Buckshot, the easily distracted goat that he is, has now left formation for the pellets. I can now move forward and forward I go, thinking I have succeeded and outsmarted them, yay me. Only to my dismay it didnt work as good as I thought it did. My two on my sides are still coming and Whiskey on my back is still closely following. Only now Pogo and Graham are outpacing me slightly and starting to walk and turn sideways. I see this move coming and I know it is another box me in maneuver. How these boys got this coordinated is beyond me. So in another desperate move I throw a few more pellets down for distraction and book it. I am halfway up the hill, not much father to go. It works, somewhat, again. I have now lost Whiskey at my back and the other two seem to have not accounted for my quick thinking and the others love of food when preparing these drills. So I make it up the hill, now I just have to get to the gate. Well now Graham has reformulated the plan and he is trying to get in front of me, with Pogo still at my side. With another dash of food I loose Pogo, woohoo. Now Graham being by himself is torn over not getting any food or still continuing on with his battle plans. Thankfully, his love of food wins out in the end and I have a full retreat and a quick shot to the gate. The gate that Miss Callie has been standing at and screaming or cheering, she claims she was rooting me on, but im less inclined to believe her because she was pretty mad I left her out there. Im out of the gate and into the backyard finally and all is well, except remember way back when I told you I needed some buddies for Callie, yep still have to do that. Well all the girls now know what is in my scooper as they watched this whole thing unfold. So I get to the gate and Thankfully just get rushed by 5 does and they are the ones that usually stay with Callie so it's all good. Get them in and now fend them off, because well im holding food and they want it. Thankfully they were not as coordinated in their attacks as the boys so I made it to the drop point with what was left in my scooper to give to them. At which time I dropped the food and ran in the house, because saying I was done was an understatement. Now as I sit here and write this all I can hope is the boys dont teach the girls their maneuvers or I wont ever be safe again. Also im trying to figure how they got so coordinated in the first place. I do believe they go to the back of their pasture where I cant see them to plan their attacks and run drills. Now I just hope their love of food will outweigh any logic or they will win. Keep an eye on your goats guys and if you see them running drills start preparing your counter drills. Always remember food is a great distraction or it is at least for now. Also on a positive note all boys seem to be happy in their pasture and we will be promptly putting the fence over the holes in the boys gate. Anyway, hope your Monday started better than mine. Have a great one everyone 🤪
