Some of you may know that Bill and I had two goats, and we called them The Goatboys. We originally "borrowed" them from a neighbor to eat the fast-growing weeds on our 3/4 acre property.
To make a long story short, they never left. They ate weeds, yes, but they also became very spoiled and waited to be fed vegetable scraps every evening.
They were like our dogs - they would run over when we called (thinking we had food, of course). They played and butted each other, even though one was small and one was large.
Billy was the large goat, as big as a pony. Little kids could have ridden him. He was really thin when we got him (he had been abandoned and our neighbor had taken him in), but he quickly gained weight and ended up being well over 100 lbs. He always acted like he was starving, as though he was remembering his former life.
And he was strong! Too strong for me to control! I was a little worried once when the vet came to treat his infected eye, how we would keep him still enough for an injection. The vet, a slightly built man, tied him by his horns to a fence post and just like that, it was done. Amazing!
I actually had to give injections to both goats for various illnesses thru the years. I have always hated needles, so it was hard for me to do, but I got pretty good at it.
Scooter was the little goatboy. He acted like the little general, kind of ordering Billy around. And Billy was such a kind, gentle goat that he didn't complain. But when "danger" appeared in their field (a dog perhaps), Scooter would hide behind Billy. It was really funny.
On the downside, goats are very destructive. Bill had to fence off part of the property in order to plant a garden. Most of the trees we had in the field died because the goats ate the bark off the trees. But we came to love them, so we put up with it.
Billy died while we were in Italy in 2006, and we lost Scooter last December. Our poor housesitter had to find some guys to help him dig a BIG hole in order to bury Billy on our property. Scooter is there too.
I miss them both every day. They were great garbage disposals for veggies (goats are NOT meat eaters) - now all of the veggies just go in the garbage. They were so fun to watch running around the field, chasing each other and butting heads. Scooter had to get up on his hind legs to be tall enough to butt Billy.
People don't think about having goats as pets, but when you live in the country, anything can be a pet!
Billy Goatboy - 1992 - 5/20/06
Scooter Goatboy - 1992 - 12/6/08
Comments (10)
Nancy, this is so cool - I didn't know you had goats! I love them and have thought about getting some myself so I don't have to mow (I live in the country too). Did you have a barn or some kind of indoor place for them? They are such wonderful creatures - love your photos!
Posted by Annie | May 20, 2009 11:36 AM
Posted on May 20, 2009 11:36
We have a couple of small buildings up at the top part of our property, where the goatboys slept at night or in bad weather.
Although we loved them, sheep probably would have done a better job with the weeds without being so destructive.
Posted by nancyhol | May 20, 2009 12:27 PM
Posted on May 20, 2009 12:27
Aww, I love goats! When my oldest son was little, he had an imaginary goat named Jeffrey who lived in his closet.
Posted by Amy | May 20, 2009 12:47 PM
Posted on May 20, 2009 12:47
Amy, that is hysterical!
Posted by nancyhol | May 20, 2009 1:24 PM
Posted on May 20, 2009 13:24
What great photos -- and names! Billy, I can understand -- but Scooter is an unexpected pleasure.
What fun they must have been!
Posted by sandrac | May 21, 2009 7:10 PM
Posted on May 21, 2009 19:10
Ooo how cute they are, I want goats!! We have nearly 2 acres, most of it grass. Seems like Dave is constantly doing loops on the lawn tractor, so surely he'd be on board with that idea. :)
What an excellent story, thanks Nancy!
Posted by Anne | May 22, 2009 6:34 AM
Posted on May 22, 2009 06:34
That must have been great having goats! They seem like such friendly animals. Great photos. Have you thought of getting new goats?
Posted by girasoli | May 23, 2009 10:54 PM
Posted on May 23, 2009 22:54
What a fun tribute to the Goatboys... we're so glad we got to meet Scooter last summer, wonderful memories! XXOO
Posted by Kathleen | May 26, 2009 6:12 AM
Posted on May 26, 2009 06:12
I love goats! I knew you had one (you mentioned Scooter when we were grieving the loss of our pets last year) but didn’t know he had died.
I had a pet goat and we lived in the city, but that was back in Puerto Rico, during a time when city codes hardly existed or were enforced.
Posted by María I. | June 2, 2009 6:03 PM
Posted on June 2, 2009 18:03
Thanks for sharing this. We lost Bits a few weeks ago so now we just have the sheep and Kibbles. Larry told me what happened to Scooter. I would not have been so nice!!
Posted by kay temple | February 20, 2010 7:15 PM
Posted on February 20, 2010 19:15