Got goats?

As a matter of fact, I do. At times. The goats, however, belong to the neighbor across the road, and they all know how to get out of their own pasture and cross the road to get to our pasture. And that's just what they did this afternoon.

Not only did some of them get out, but they all got out today, about 20 goats... and there they were, munching on the wildflowers on our property and making their way towards our pond.  Can't blame the goats... it's the neighbor with the lack of common sense to fix the darn fence so they cannot get out. We've been waiting for three years for him to fix the side of the fence that's near the road coming up our hill.

I went out there with the air horn this afternoon... walking down the road and getting just close enough to the goats to give them all a good blast. I hate to use that thing... the noise is horrible, and I know it scares the birds and the cats as well as the goats, but it's the only way to get the attention of the goats as well as the neighbor.

At the first blast of the air horn, the larger goats jumped over the fence, balancing themselves on one of the larger posts before flinging themselves into their pasture.  At the second air horn blast, the smaller goats started to run to a spot where they could shimmy underneath a sagging part of the fence, and at the same time, the neighbor came driving down his hill and then up our hill with his noisy muffler-less backfiring truck, intending to herd the goats back onto his property.

Stupid man. He stopped the truck and explained to me that he hasn't had time to fix the fence, and of course the ground is too wet now to do anything about the fence this week.  I resisted the urge to remind him that the fence has been in dis-repair for three years.  I didn't even argue with the man... didn't say that I don't want the goats on our property... didn't mention that I'm tired of chasing his livestock with an air horn, and totally resisted the need to beg him not to kill any more of those adorable baby goats for his stew pot.

The goats all went back into their own pasture... the neighbor took his noisy truck back to his own hill.... and I came back into the house to get ready for this afternoon's tea party.

There are times when living out here hurts my heart.