We've Got Goats...

They're here...and very dear...

Isn't that the way the saying goes?

Somehow it didn't quite feel like that this afternoon when we brought Jenna's 4-H goats home...

All was going smoothly...and that's when we should have been ready for trouble!   We had goat #1 unloaded and safely inside the pen.  However...we forgot to fasten the gate securely while we retrieved goat #2 from the truck.  Big mistake!

Goat #1, from hence forth referred to as "Speckled Ears", escaped from the pen, just because he could, and took off running across the yard, with the dog in close pursuit.  Before we knew it, he had crossed the road, run across the neighbor's yard, wiggled through the fence, and took off across the open fields.  Once he tasted freedom, he couldn't get enough.  On and on he ran, for about a half mile, across two farms and into the third before he finally slowed down.  (Sorry Reuben...I didn't want to run across your newly seeded alfalfa, but I had no choice!)  A friend and I chased on foot, and my Dad hopped in the truck and met up with us down the road a piece.


Once "Speckled Ears" tired...I was huffing and puffing too...my Dad and I finally were able to grab hold of him and carry him to the truck, and back to his pen where goat #2 was patiently waiting bleating his little heart out, wondering where his friend had taken off to.

Goat #1 on the left...aka "Speckled Ears", and Goat #2 on the right... 

The rest of their day went much better, at least from our perspective.  They hid behind the big tree for a while, and then ventured out to explore their pen.  Most importantly, they found their hutch, their feed and their water. 

These guys aren't quite as tame as the does Jenna had last year, so there's a lot of work to do, taming them and handling them.  I would imagine that she will have to spend a lot of time in their pen, just letting them get used to her.

 In the next few days Jenna will also come up with some real names for them...I'm interested to see if she sticks with the original names she thought she would use..

They're here, and they really are very dear!  And they ought to sleep good tonight, after that adventure!

Linking up today to Farm Girl Friday !