Two days ago, I looked out of the upstairs window and took a double take. There was a goat on the lawn.
Notice that the barn door is closed. The paddock gate is closed. And yet, Caper is on the lawn. His brother, Pip, is relaxing on his bench inside of the goat pasture. Did Caper dematerialize from one side of the fence and materialize on the other? Did he say Beam me up, Scotty! and get transported to the side of the fence with the green grass?
Steve investigated. The gate has two chains to keep it shut. The bottom one was off the hook.
Yep, Pip figured out how to unlatch the chain and squeeze through the gate. (Notice that the chain on the top is still on. Notice the size of Caper’s belly. He must have defied some law of physics to do this.)
Recently a study made a big splash in the news. It announced that goats are intelligent! Those of us with goats read the study and shook our heads. The test that the researchers presented the goats was easy-peasy. It was like asking an MIT mathematician to recite the times tables. Obviously, the researchers hadn’t ever kept goats.
Steve got Caper back in. I secured the gate with what I had on hand. You have a lot of extra clips and carabiners when you keep goats.
There! I said, Caper can’t get into trouble now!
Never, ever say that about goats.
That night, Caper discovered that if he bangs on the stall door, that a loose wire will fall off of the wall. Nice toy.
Good to chew.
Luckily, it was not high voltage.
Notice that all of these stories are about Caper.
Pip is the gentleman.
He says that he deserves some peanuts for being so good. He does. I also think that Caper deserves peanuts for being so clever. Those researchers could learn a thing or two from him.
Never a dull moment for you and your family (the 2 legged & 4 legged & finned). Glad everyone’s safe & sound… at least for the time being.
Haha, enjoyed your story of Caper’s antics. Great “aerial” picture of your property. I enjoy seeing how others have configured their barns and such. Thanks for sharing.
Funny story! There is nothing like animal antics to start the day off right. My husband’s family had goats when he was a teenager. My mother-in-law says that she wanted goats because they had “wise eyes”. She also has plenty of stories of goat antics to share. I enjoy them all. :)
You have always said Caper was the smart one. But a peanut for Pip wouldn’t be out of place. A good giggle.
I too am enjoying your menagerie tales. Envy you all the animal activity and fresh eggs.
Funny! Thank you for the laugh today!
Caper is just recharging his batteries for more escapades to come. LOL!
He’s probably been reading electronics manuals on the sly. Wouldn’t put it past him.
We has a goat @ our high school as part of the FFA program. We took him to our mall area(large hall area where we hung out between classes). It had benches with posters above them. He loved to jump on the benches and
eat the posters.:)
Clever goat, indeed! You have to admire Caper for thinking outside the box.And Pip for being the foil. :-)
Maybe you need a children’s book about Capers escapades. Tricky goat. Love your photos.
Haha…our goats got out too last week! However, it’s funny how they flocked to the where the feed is at! :)
It comes from naming him “Caper” ! If you’d have named him “Sloth” for example, he’d stay put…
If only it was that easy :)
Really clever goat. Thank you for the laugh today and for sharing the wonderful photos!
A children’s book on naughty goat tales must be in order next Terry!
I’ve written one! So far, alas, it has been rejected by a couple of editors. I’m still trying to find a place for it, though.
Great idea about the children’s book about goats. Get your friend with the doggie named Marky to illustrate it! What a combo of talents that would be. :-)
By the way, are there any other animals with pupils like goats’ pupils? Until I started reading your blog and looking at your photos I had no idea that goats’ eyes were different from cow or dog eyes.
I’ve written about goat eyes and how they see! Read this post.
I, too, had to do a double take. I thought, “why is Terry calling Steve names?”. :-)
Then the other pictures came through.
You are probably in for a treat to come, as much “extra” time as Caper has had to think about things during the harsh winter you had, and if you have removed his “male directional facilitation device”, he will no doubt have payback in mind at some point, whether it is preplanned or spontaneous. And you never know what Brother may have put him up to, just to see if both of them could get away with it!
I was just thinking Monday about the lay of the farm, wondering how the snowmelt would be handled. I kind of wish you had a camera up where you are, too, that is a soothing view to open up to. Sort of my way to start the day here. I know it was a pain for you, but seeing the snow and such is somewhat of a comfort to those of us, or some of us, whose worst winter day is a dip below 70 until time to go to work.
I work for an ol’ goat, but these two are a whole bunch better to start off the workday with.
seeya, Erney
I laughed so hard Terry. Thank you for this post. I needed something to smile about!
Where there’s a will there’s a way!
That is so true that goats are intelligent and they have a good memory and they are very determined when they want something. I have 8 goats as a pets, 2 male which are castrated and 6 females and they have a very large fenced area but the grass is always greener on the other side… They are excellent for landscaping… The fence is 2 meters high and welded…. But when they want they jump over, they dig under or they just lean on to it and try to come through until the hole is big enough, not to mention that heir horns are excellent tools. When they find something good to eat they will remember forever where it is. Sometimes I wonder if they can fly too…. But on the other hand they are so nice and tame and funny to look at. I have had them 10 years now, and it´s about time to fix the fence again. Funny thing is that they are afraid of the chickens.. Not the horses that my neighbor ride on the road, not the dog and cats. Have a funny moments with your goats Terry they are so lovely anyway :)
Afraid of the chickens? My goats find the chickens entertaining!
That is too funny! Clever goat! Double treats for him =)
“There was a goat on the lawn.”
So simple yet so boundlessly excellent.
Thank you, Sean. I wrote a children’s book with similar humor. Editors don’t get it like you do.