April 30, 2012

Most Annoying Goat Award

I have a couple of goats that I've thought would be surefire candidates for a "Most Annoying Goat" award if there was one. Well now there is.


I am awarding it to .......... Surprise........

Don't let the face fool you

Surprise is one of those critters who refuses to acknowledge the routine. She'll holler and shove and push, and generally get in the way during feeding time, unless she spots the gate open and then zoom, out she goes. Most of our gates have slide bolt latches, except for one which is chained. Every morning she tries to see if she can undo that chain. She has a 6th sense when it comes to anything I don't want her to do, or to get into. That is the very thing she immediately hones in on and goes for. For example, the goats haven't been allowed into the back pasture (the one we're working on improving) because of this...

Plastic covered straw pile

Under the plastic is dirty straw and discarded hay from cleaning out the barn. I plan to scatter it over the pasture seed we'll plant after we get our soil test results. Any time Surprise is in the back field, she makes a beeline to this pile and pulls the plastic off. The more brick and rocks I have holding it down, the more determined she is to do it. The chickens then proceed to scatter straw all over the place, which I do not want.

The other day the boys were grazing in the front, so I wanted to let the girls in the back. To keep Surprise from pulling the plastic off, I decided to try a goat deterrent.

My goat deterrent

Somewhat satisfied, I opened the gate and let the girls in.

Jasmine & Surprise check out the odd pile

Jasmine's already losing interest but Surprise is taking a closer look.

A squirt with the hose is always the deciding factor.

They go off and I do too. I know better than to be gone too long however and return to find this...

Sneaking around to the other side to try to get at that plastic!

She had snuck around to the other side to see if she could get at the plastic without me noticing. Needless to say she had no success and gave up. Score one for me. Finally!

Do you have a most annoying goat?

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26 comments:

Amy Dingmann said...

HA! I had to laugh when I saw all that stuff piled on top of the plastic. She's one "special" goat indeed!

Do you have an award for "My goats are still cute because they're only a month old...but I can tell my day is coming?" Because I think that's the one we'd win here!

Clint Baker said...

ROFLOL! That is 2 funny, just like a couple of Kids, pardon the pun!

Tonya Gunn said...

This is great - as owners of yearlings (we bought them as babies last spring) - we are quickly learning just how clever goats are and becoming experts at repairing fences.

Woolly Bits said...

hm, talking about goats being curious:) I could only take that award if it applied to female neighbours - I'd have several specimen on that list:)

Nina said...

That's the morning giggle! Think how boring it would be if you didn't have a free thinking girl out there. Now if only we could train our kids to think outside the box and be that strong when it comes to ideas and actions.

I always found my angora goats to be quiet, sweet and unassuming. Those dairy goats though were far more inquisitive and energetic.

Jocelyn said...

Ha! That's a spunky girl, for you. I have a goat named Minerva, and she likes to steal the bottle from the only bottle baby, Dulcinea. It's gotten to the point where I can't feed Dulci in Min's presence, as she gets too upset to eat with Min sticking her head in there all the time.

She's not THAT annoying, but she's pretty close. Some days more than others. :)

Seeking Serenity said...

LoL!! such a contrary :D
I think it shows intelligence!

Mama Pea said...

Imagine having a herd of about 20! You'd be bound to have a real demolition team formed then. And You-Know-Who would be the ring leader!

We had a very large, red Nubian doe named Debra who looked like she should be winning prizes in the show ring. However, she was the clumsiest goat I've ever seen. If she didn't fall getting up on the milking stand, she'd fall getting off. You can imagine trying to catch a 350 lb. goat (slight exaggeration) in those circumstances so she didn't hurt herself. If she were to investigate your old hay pile, she'd climb on top, fall, end up on her back with all four feet waving in the air, screaming for someone to come rescue her.

Goats. Ya gotta love 'em.

Leigh said...

Amy, they're fun at every age. Little ones are the sweetest and cutest, but I love all my goats, even the ornery ones!

Clint, LOL. Thanks!

Plain & Joyful Living, but that's what makes them so amusing. :) (As well as sometimes annoying.)

Bettina, ha! I imagine we could all think of a few folks to award that one too.

Nina, so true, so true. Angora goats were what I thought I wanted originally, along with Shetland sheep. Nubians, sheesh, they can be a nuisance.

Jocelyn, how funny. And it's true! They do have their days, and moments. :)

Peaceful, it ought to but Surprise is stubborn to the point where she does herself a disservice! The proverbial cutting off one's nose to spite one's face. :)

Mama Pea, it's those Nubians! Kinders are supposed to have calmer personalities, which is why we put up with the Nubians. It's true though, they're hard not to love and enjoy in spite of the antics.

Bridget said...

Entertaining...for us anyway!

Sarah said...

I used to have one who annoyed me to no end, but since we've moved and she has a better, larger pasture she has calmed down. She used to come in the dog door and walk into the kitchen. Once we didn't catch her until we found her eating the Christmas tree

Andrew said...

Ha ha, great post.

Well, yes, I had one, but I loved her for it. Many incidents. For example, back in sixth grade I had some math homework I was stuck on and I'd gone into the pasture to ask mom a question about it. The goat cam up behind and snagged about a 1/2 sheet of college rule paper and had it gone before I could turn around. The work wasn't too bad, so I got it re-done. But I still told the other kids the goat ate my homework.

CaliforniaGrammy said...

I almost spit out my coffee laughing at that picture with the very creative pile of goat-deterrent. Great post Leigh . . . thanks for the morning giggles!

Sue said...

Gotta love inquisitive minds! I've had Angoras before, and they were my fence testers, especially Mouse. If she couldn't get out, nothing could.

I just won an Alpine doe kid last weekend, so we'll see how she differs from the fiber goats.

Renee Nefe said...

Determined little bugger, huh?

Glad that you finally won the war there. But what happens when you need that wheelbarrow? ;o)

Leigh said...

Bridget, as you can imagine, there are always "goat tales" to be told at our house. :)

Sadie, that's hilarious! Surprise actually used to be worse, she used to holler constantly. Having a kid calmed her down somewhat, but she's still got a mind of her own.

Andrew, LOL. And it was true too!

Janice, you're welcome. :)

Sue, oh, congratulations! No guarantee dairy goats don't test fences. Or jump them. Hopefully your prize will truly be a prize!

Renee, well, that's the catch. :) Fortunately they don't spend much time in that field these days.

Candy C. said...

How fun! I will definitely be back to link up in a few days! :)

Carol............. said...

Bad bad goat! LOL Guess you can't let cute faces fool you......

Cat Eye Cottage said...

I have a most annoying chicken! You have to give her credit. She knows what she wants and goes after it.

Laura said...

No goats here yet. MrLivingOurWay tends to sell chickens really quick when they get annoying :). I am thinking we need some pigs and goats after our burning experiencee yesterday. I'd be happy to let them clear the rest of the land!

Madness, Trouble, Squish and Milkbone said...

LOL. No, but we have a most annoying cat! Trouble really lives up to his name. When he is quiet I get worried and have to go and see what he is up to.

Leigh said...

Candy, I read about your most annoying goat, LOL. Maddening!

Carol, so true, so true, :)

Candace, funny how annoying is usually the result of a battle of the wills!

Laura, I understand the benefits of burning but what a big job! Goats would do an excellent job of clearing the area (assuming you had good fence!), and pigs would gladly till it for you (as would your chickens). Such helpful critters. :)

MTS&M, ah, Trouble! But he's such a happy guy!!!

MamaHen said...

We don't have goats, but we have a puppy named Sadie who can get into the most trouble.

Anonymous said...

Surprise is an annoying goat. Tina of http://www.ablipontheradar.blogspot.com suggested I nominate our goat Lil as the most annoying goat for her recent escapade. It is at http://schoonoverfarm.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/fixin but I am not sure she is really our most annoying goat. We also have Brown Sugar who can escape through any fence or gate and always goes where he shouldn't. Then there is Zeus who is so big and walks right in front of you so you cannot go anywhere. We have too many annoying goats to choose from.

* Crystal * said...

Seems like Surprise has an earless twin named Comanche living at my house!!!! Her sole propose in life is to make mine more difficult!!!

Perhaps I should employ your hose technique ;)

Leigh said...

Schoonover Farm, welcome! Loved reading about your goats. Never a dull moment with them around, is there. :)

Crystal, ha! I've read some of your goat adventures and know what you mean! The hose does work, as does a squirt bottle. :)