Last Autumn, the goats ignored the fallen acorns. But, now that they’ve sprouted, the acorns are goat candy.

I’ve been training my goats to walk nicely on a leash, and also to do silly pet tricks, like play soccer (I promise a YouTube video by the end of the summer!) They’ll do anything for a bit of goat sweet feed. However, I have a new goat training rule: never attempt to train your goat when there are sprouted acorns underfoot. Goats can be quite single-minded when it comes to food. Sprouted acorns turn off all other pathways other than the “munch on these until you’re bloated” one. Trying to get a goat’s attention when there is candy underfoot simply teaches him to ignore you. I had to pick Pip and Caper up and remove them from under the oak trees before they stopped having that glazed look in their eyes. (Acorns turn them into zombie goats!!!) Now that they each weigh upwards of 45 pounds, that wasn’t particularly easy!

On the other hand, they’ve been quite helpful tidying up the patio next to the water feature. I’ve got tendinitis in my lower back, so haven’t been able to weed. It turns out that the unwanted plants between the rocks are exactly what the goats love to eat – that it, if I can drag them away from the acorns.