Baby Goat & Puppy

Goofy Goat

Baby Goat

Taken last week while out at the horse pens.

Goat Cussin'

Went to the horse lots today to see how the animals were doing; I had heard there had been a fire out there and I was concerned about some of my favorites. I didn't see Jack the Mule, but an old pal was standing out in the road as I was leaving. Somehow he knew I was in the vicinity and I *might* just have an apple for him. (and I did!) I call him "Beezlebub" because he looks satanic, but he's really pretty sweet. For a goat, that is.

He really doesn't smell very good, but then again, none of them do, esp. the billys. (they pee on their whiskers) He held still long enough for me to get a video of him. I greeted him with the normal Texas salutation, one with an obscenity. He replied in kind.

Goat Gaze II

Green Apple Goat Gulp

This is a funny little goat out at the horse pens; he's got one half-horn, but it's wrapped around his ear. When I pointed the camera at him for this shot, he quit chewing and stood very still. I think he was hoping I was cutting him off another piece of apple.

I'm Milking These Goats

Uh, milking these goat photos, should say, for all they're worth, anyway.

Here's another shot, very similar to another one of the same goat.



But, I HAVE milked a goat. We had goats when I was growing up; oh, not a lot of 'em, but my dad (as he was prone to do) did some trading for a few of them. I think he had some sort of vision of being a goat rancher, or maybe he was just drunk as a skunk when he traded for them. We did have a nanny and I milked her for my dad's now-and-then glass of raw goat milk. Gag. My show pig and the cats and dogs we always had got the most of it until the nanny had a kid.

I remember it well; I had just turned 16, got my driver's license and a beat up '62 Pontiac Tempest (similar to a Corvair) for fifty bucks. Me 'n Dad had worked on that thing for quite a while, overhauling the tranny and fixin' some cancer spots on it and painting it back to the surprisingly lovely original maroon color. All-in-all, it was a pretty good job, considerin' it had all been done in the garage.

Then we got the goats.

Goats, as you may or may not know, are climbers, and they shunned all of our other vehicles in order to perch on top of my new/used car. Of course, the paint job went to hell under their cloven hoofs, and no matter what I did to them -- siccin' the dog on 'em, runnin' out and yellin' at them or even pepperin' 'em with my trusty childhood Daisy BB gun did the trick and kept them off the top of my precious little car.

The little female goats were pretty sweet, other than the fact that they enjoyed using my Pontiac as a substitute for a rocky craig. The billy, though...he was a piece of work. I do not know why male goats do this, but he was like all the others I've seen or heard about, and liked to pee on his whiskers and consequently stunk to high heaven. It's supposed to be an attraction to female goats, but I'm not for sure that it'd work on human girls.

I got the pressure to reach MY chin, but I can't grow a beard anyway, so.....

That goat sure tasted good though, later that summer, barbequed for several hours over hot coals in a pit I gladly helped dig in an empty spot out in the garden. This came about when, after Dad had bought a nice, but used Chrysler, the goats found it to be a better vantage point than my car. The female goats escaped the billy's fate, being traded to some Mexican for an old Dodge pickup. Come to think of it, they probably wound up in tamales anyway.

Bet they were good.

(this is basically the text of an email I sent to my friend Barb after she sent me some photos of her own new goats. I had to clean it up to post it here.)

Goat Grin

With a slight underbite

Good Grief, Gobs of Goats!

"Hey, take MY picture!" this goat seemed to say to me as I was out taking photos of the mules, chickens, dogs and misc. other creatures out at the horse lots west of the Pampa city limits.

I swear, it kept bleating as if talking to me, but I think it was telling this other goat that it really shouldn't be outside the gate.



On down the road there was an entire pen full of goats and a couple of black sheep. I'm familiar with black sheep so I didn't take any photos. (seriously, they were shy and ran into the little barn when I got close. If you'll click the photo below you'll get a larger view and can see one of them, directly in the middle of all the other animals)



I love to take photos of goat's faces; they're so interesting and expressive.



I liked the coloration of this one, but when I'd poke my camera through the fence wire to get an unobstructed shot, he'd turn his head or another goat would try to eat my camera.



I finally lured him into a frontal view with the offer of some tasty weeds.

Well, HE thought they were tasty; I'm more into spinach and endive.