July 7, 2007

   Two years ago, I got two Nubian goats and didn’t like the experience. I found them loud,  intrusive, and annoying. They made endless noise, crawled under and over fences, jumped on
my cars and trucks and followed me everywhere. They wanted lots of attention. They made their presence felt constantly. They were very smart and very loud.  I lean to farm animals like donkeys, cows and sheep  – they are happy to say hello and get a treat, and quite social, but most of the time, they are content to go off and ponder things and eat grass and hay. I don’t want to interact with them all of the time, or spend hours cuddling with them. I gave my Nuban goats to Annie, who has a horde of Nubians and loves them all dearly – the louder and more obnoxious, the better. We all love animals for different reasons, I think, and Annie loves all animals. I can’t say the same is true of me.
   I was wary of my new goats, who arrived on July 4 from the Adams family of Shushan, N.Y. they are Saanen-Boer crosses. I am not wary of Ruth and Murray anymore. I am growing fonder of them by the day. I bring them hay, bowls of stale cheerios and popcorn. They yowled for the first day or so, but that was understandable. They missed their mom. Now, they have settled down. They go into the HBO Memorial Lambing Pen at night or when it rains, and come up to the fence to say hello to me and the dogs whenever we come by. I sit with them sometimes, just to socialize them and get to know them. I look out the window and smile when I see them standing on top of the picnic table or on the roof of the doghouse.They are doing a good job eating junk weeds and nettles.
   I think I am getting hooked. In a few weeks, we will let them out into the main pasture and they can hang out with the donkeys, who they seem to love.
  I am getting to once again test my theory of living with farm animals. For the first few weeks, present them with food and let them be near you.  Don’t intrude too much or reach out and grab or startle them. Food is life to animals, and even though we love to think they love us for our special qualities, most of the time they love us for the sustenance we provide them, and that is good enough for them and for me. Animals teach me acceptance. Love is love. I don’t require that they love me for anything else that attention and food, and I find that over time when they are treated well, fed, socialized and given shelter, they calm down, hang out with the other animals, and live peacefully with people and animals alike. These two goats are going to fit in well. Now, Sandy Adams tells me she has another female she wants to sell before Tuesday, when she will take her to auction. She calls her Honey. I wonder if I should get Honey and have three goats.