Name That Livestock

Any number of animals graze on the ranch behind us. Lilly enjoys sassing these large animals who regularly walk the fence-line route. For fear of her getting kicked in the head by horses, mules, and/or cattle, I try to divert her attention and often reward her for looking at the animals without rushing the fence or barking at them. Recently, however, it’s been harder to call her off. She ignores my faint LEAVE IT, followed by COME as if I did not exist. And, now we know why. A new critter has joined the grazing pack, and (it seems) Lilly believes the beast to be a big dog.

Do you see that white thing with a brown head? It’s standing next to the horse on the left.

{sorry for the missing photo. It got lost in a blog meltdown.}

That, dear readers, is a wayward goat. It’s pretty darn tubby too. I haven’t gotten close enough to determine its gender, but I’m guessing it’s pregnant. Tom says it’s totally the wrong time of year for that, but I found this handy Goat Gestation Calculator, and it says goats can kid 145-155 days after breeding. So … the baby goat might come in early spring?

A neighbor called me before the holidays asking if I knew if anyone had lost a goat because she could see it grazing with the horses near her pond. But, none of our goat-owning friends sent out an emergency email, so I had no clue.

I assumed the matter had been resolved, until Lilly flipped out at the fence, and we realized there was someone smaller than a horse but bigger than a dog making rounds.

We’d recently heard a rumor that a dairy goat operator over the ridge got evicted and had abandoned the flock. I tend not to believe such things, but seeing this critter makes me wonder. Then, again, it was a pretty big herd … and where are the rest of them? So, either the story is a fabrication, OR the predators around here had happy, happy holidays … since I’ll be generous and assume the goat family took their Great Pyreness (who guarded the goats) with them.