in which Butch Wonders makes goat friends

Okay, dear readers--a number of you have expressed surprise and disbelief that I, who have openly revealed that I am less than enamored with camping, would hang out with goats.  So I am sharing photographic evidence of said goat-butch interactions. 

First, to the left, is a picture of me feeding a baby goat.  Part of our  volunteer duties involve feeding the adult goats, baby goats, and grouchy llama that live on this farm.  We load a bunch of alfalfa and grass into a wheelbarrow, then dump everything into a huge, wooden cage-like structure, and then a GOAT FEEDING FRENZY ensues.  But the adult goats are mean to the little ones, and are always butting the kids to try to keep them away from the food.  So I started taking grass and feeding the babies on my own, which my Dear Partner (DP) believes is teaching them to be wimpy.  She may be right, but we're only there 2-3 times a month, so I figure an occasional indulgence won't hurt them.  

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To the right is a snapshot of the llama.  As much as I like the llama, I am also a little scared of him, mainly because he reminds me of Skeletor from He-Man when viewed head-on.  From the side, which is how I prefer to view him, he looks a good deal more camel-esque.  The llama was originally acquired by this farm to keep away mountain lions.  I'm not sure who thought this was a good idea (in llama vs. mountain lion combat, my money would pretty much always be on a mountain lion).  And it didn't work.  Goats on this farm were eaten by mountain lions on a semi-regular basis until they built a goat enclosure that was 10 feet high instead of six feet high.  Despite his ineffectuality, the llama is a permanent resident.

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Our main volunteer duties on the farm involve milking the goats.  As I mentioned in my last post, the point of the farm is to bring kids from impoverished areas and teach them about animals, where food comes from, etc.  The kids get to camp out on the farm for a couple of nights, make breakfast from eggs that they gather themselves, go on hikes, and learn about the plants and animals on the farm.  There are no kid-visitors on the weekends, but the goats still need to be milked, which is where we come in.  

One by one, we get the goats from their enclosure, put them on a leash, and lead them to the "milking stand" (pictured above left)  The goats LOVE this, because we feed them a special goat cereal while they're being milked. 

Milking a goat actually takes a little practice, but we're getting pretty good at it.  In the last picture at the bottom left is an action shot of me actually milking the goat.  We usually get about 1.5 quarts from each goat, which means that we have plenty of goat milk to take home to make cheese, ice cream, yogurt, or to just drink as milk (it tastes like cow's milk, but fresher--it takes 1-2 weeks before it gets that "goaty" tang store-bought goat milk has).

Sure, there have been mishaps (e.g., each of us has let the goats get out of the enclosure accidentally, which means that there are goats running all over the place; our recipes are not always successful, etc.) But overall, it's been fun.  Over the entrance to the farm, they have a big plaque that says "TRY NEW THINGS."  I think that's a pretty important thing to remember about life, don't you?