What did you do today?

[Nanno]

It's hard to keep track of what we've been doing lately because we've been doing so much! I bought two more PolyDomes the other day since we now have ten goats and Cuzco dominates one shelter all by himself. Pac-Man and the two new girls have been spending too much time out in the wet when the bad weather blows in, and the babies are rapidly out-growing their little Dog-loo shelters.

The bucklings are beginning to be rank. Poor Finn doesn't understand why no one wants to hike with him or even pet him any more. I try to be as nice to him as I can, but petting him makes him excited, which makes him spray all over us. The bucklings are not allowed to leave their pen at all any more without direct supervision. My neighbor has Boers and neither of us want my bucks breeding his does. They hate being locked up all the time, but there's nothing else to be done until they're all wethered. I'm sure if they knew the alternative they'd be happy to stay in their pen, but it's hard to explain to a goat that he can have either his freedom or his fertility. Finn jumped out of the pen last week when Phil left for a hike without him. I'm assuming he zapped himself pretty good on the way over because the poles were all bent down where he hit the fence and he hasn't tried it again. Poor guy--he does love Phil (we can tell because he sprays Phil more often than he sprays me!).

Phil and I are gearing up for another "goat vacation" next week. I trimmed Cuzco's and Pac-Man's hooves this morning in preparation. This year we're sticking closer to home. We'll be spending a week in my old stomping grounds in Lake City, CO. People there will flip when they see Cuzco. He was a town celebrity. It's because of Cuzco that we opted out of Utah this year. He's just too old to make that long trip any more. The trailer ride takes far more out of him than the hikes because he simply refuses to lie down while we're rolling. His joints can't take standing for hours on end two days in a row. But he still loves to hike and pack, so we're not yet ready to leave him home altogether. Pac-Man will come with us too.

Sadly, Finn will have to stay home due to all the unsavory habits he's developed of late. Trapping him in the confines of a horse trailer with Cuzco and Pac-Man for a week would be cruel to those poor wethers, and I don't think my trailer would ever be the same again! He'd also give an undeserved bad reputation to packgoats everywhere. If he didn't have to breed Nubbin in a couple of months I'd have wethered him by now, but he's too nice not to breed at least one season. I have outside people interested in breeding to him as well, so maybe we'll make a little money off him this fall. He must be a nice goat if people want his babies!