Escape Goat

The other day the Goat Maid found one goat in the backyard. Caper was happily eating crabgrass.

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His brother, Pip, was still in the paddock, standing in the sun on his bench. The gate was closed.

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Was Caper some sort of magician? No, the bottom chain had been inadvertently left unlatched. Pip said that it looked closed to him, and that the opening was far too small to squeeze through.

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Caper, however, saw it differently. Caper said that the gate was wide open. Really. He said that the Goat Maid wanted him to graze on all of this lovely green grass. He’s a well-behaved boy. He wouldn’t go far. He wasn’t even eating the parsley!

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The Goat Maid’s geometry skills are not up to calculating how that belly could fit through the gap in the fence. But, she did know how to get him back. Chard. Notice that Pip is eager to eat the greens, but that he does not go through the gate.

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Caper, clever boy, tried to figure out how to eat the chard while staying on the grassy side. However, he was not as clever as the Goat Maid (at least not at this moment.)

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The gate was closed (and about to be latched, top AND bottom.)

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The goats ate chard. Good boys!

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Comments:

  1. When it comes to small openings in fencing, goats think like cats. If they can get their head through, then obviously the rest of them should be able to fit through too…. despite that being a grievous fallacy in some cases. Just be thankful they don’t have thumbs. I can’t currently think of a worse combination. ;)

    • Caper has been applying his prodigious brain power to trying to unlatch the carabiner that we keep on the stall door, being as how he has already figured out how to slide. lift and open that latch. Thumbs on them! Egads!

  2. Great story!! For some reason smost of the pics are cut in half or completly missing. This is happening on my home as well as work computer.

  3. The way to a goat’s heart is through his stomach :) I agree with Kristine: Be thankful they don’t have thumbs!

  4. Hee! hee! love the comic strip story!
    Just goes to prove that where there’s a will (or a Caper!) , there’s a way!
    Thank goodness for chard!

  5. My daughter says “if a goat can, a goat will…” They always find ways to get into trouble!!!

  6. If goats had thumbs they would rule the world. Come to think of it, they are doing pretty well without them. On a different topic, I went to Phil’s in Harvard yesterday and have some unpasteurized cider. Yummy. Thanks for the lead.

  7. Gate opening…belly. Gate opening…belly. Gate opening….belly.

    I give up.

  8. LOL. Well Terry, you had said you were tired of chard. Caper was just helping you out. If their, um, girth, is any indicator of the kind of winter you are going to be getting — you better stock up!

  9. Kristine’s comment made me laugh Terry! If goats really think like cats you’ve got a problem! My tabby studio assistant can escape through the smallest of crevices, she seems to unlock her bones and pour herself through! Maybe that’s what Caper did?!

  10. Don’t you say their job is to delight and amuse? Well, then, Caper was just mixing it up a bit and keeping you on your Goat Maid toes with his adorable antics! Still…..that tummy through the gate opening? Pretty darn impressive! And what a clever Goat Maid to think of reserving a special treat just for such amusing mischievousness. You certainly got the attention of both boys. I learn something every time I visit LPF. Love that.

  11. I adore that boy Caper! How fun is he! Oh Terry, I know it’s not a good thing for him to escape but he is so funny. I remember the video of him yelling at the snow. What a character he is. I can just picture Pip thinking, “You’re gonna get in trouble there brother.” The smart ones are usually the quiet ones I think! I adore both of the Goat Boys. Thank you for sharing.

  12. I love that this story is so well illustrated with pictures. You could work up something like this for a new book for your young readers. Certainly we older readers are delighted.

  13. An amazing feat Caper! Actually, I was checking on your outdoor cam a few weeks ago, after dark, and the boys were still outside their house and wandering around a bit. As I watched I kind of held my breath as that boy Caper was repeatedly bumping up against the gate, would walk away and then go back to bump it again. No doubt he was checking to see if it really was shut tight…the little dickens.