I was ambushed by a pair of hijackers while delivering water to the flock in the high pasture yesterday afternoon. Meet Butch and Sundance, our Angora goats. They currrently share pasture in the uppermost reach of the farm with our ewes who were recently parted from their lambs.
Ordinarily, I do not like running the sheep with the goats. The goats tend to bully the sheep, barring them access to the barn and the feeders. I’ve spoken to many people who keep sheep and goats and almost everyone sees this goat-sheep aggression. So I don’t think Butch and Sunny are mean. They are just following goat protocol, when it comes to sheep.
The goats appear less interested in harassing sheep in the middle of summer when they share sizable tracts of pasture and are able stay out of each other’s hair – or wool and mohair, I should say. I think it’s just too hot for them to bother. The sheep spend their days nosing through the grassy field, taking their rest near a fallen tree in the center of the pasture. The goats haunt the woody-brush along the perimeter. I sometimes drive right by them without seeing them camouflaged in the thicket like a pair of highwaymen.
Once a day I arrive by 4×4 mule to fill water tanks in the outlying pastures. In the hot summer months , the many springs throughout the meadow run dry. The flock relies on these tanks as their sole source of water and it’s important to keep them clean and fresh.
Marauding goats emerge from the shadows . . .
(click for closer view)
While I swat deerfly and heave 30 pound jugs of water from the back of the Mule, Butch and Sunny search for contraband.
Notice the sheep in the background have zero interest in my arrival. The two species clearly have different agendas.
Disappointed with their inspection of my cargo, (no carrots, no grain), Butch and Sunny attempt to smuggle the leather key fob from the ignition and the rubber cap to the power outlet when they think I’m not looking. In the end, they satisfy themselves by using the mule as a back-scratching device before returning to their lair.
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Copyright 2007, Barbara Parry, Foxfire Fiber & Designs
All images and content property of Barbara Parry, Foxfire Fiber & Designs.
