Recently, we decided to get milking goats.  Actually I’d been a little ambivalent about getting them honestly, and part of me still is, to be candid.  I’ve discovered a lot this first week of having them.  One thing is that they are adorable, like a child playing innocently on a sandy beach.  Another thing is that they eat all of the time, or so it seems.  Every time I come over they want more food, mostly grains, greens and a few branches.  If I try to come into their abode without bringing gifts of food, the queen of the small herd of two (mom and babe) makes a bucking motion to me.  She’s not happy is what I’ve so ‘cleverly’ figured out.  She trained me quickly to always bring in clippings of some kind.

Someone freshly said to me that goats are the perfect animal to have, because they are social like dogs, like to follow you around, but they are farm animals.  My idealistic mind set into a ‘perfect world’.  My mind wandered, “Oh, this is great!  We’ve been thinking about getting a dog for a long time now.  I can take them for walks, and drives, give them lots of attention and they’ll wag their tales, and they’ll come back for more…and I can leave them behind at night in their pen”….

Romanticizing about your ‘to-be experiences’ can sometimes lead to discouragement.  There was actually one point in the week that I felt like I was having symptoms of a post-partum depressed new mom.  “The goats love me only for the food that I bring them.  Other than that, they don’t want much to do with me”, I found myself thinking one day this week.  This is not true (I hope); it just felt like that in that particular moment.

Goats are social beings for sure.  They also do like to follow you around, and goats are definitely farm animals.  I learned that they are more complex.  They want to be close but not too close; they want their independence and freedom to roam as they please. They like to greet you when you come up with ‘baas’.  While you’re with them they stay close and follow you but they don’t necessarily like being touched too much. They are sensitive creatures, noticing all of the cars going by, your bodily movements and movement of things, loud noises…  When you leave them they  ‘baa’ as if they’re saying “Don’t leave us”. To me, they seem kind of like my cat, except they eat more often and are much bigger.   My cat is looking pretty small right now.

The last week has been filled with many learning opportunities and challenges, but overall I’m really happy with my new friends!  I’ll keep ya posted on the goats and  my learning process along the way.

On another note, awhile ago when I was still working in the school, a student asked me if I had horses and a woodstove; he thought I smelled like his aunt.  Now I can only imagine how I smell!  I do have a woodstove, but not horses, yet!

Incredulously,

Susie

PS.  Am I dreaming??