Goats. Masters of mischief, champions of balance, and undisputed experts in the fine art of getting exactly where they shouldn’t be. Case in point: the latest episode of “Farmyard Acrobatics,” starring two of my resident troublemakers playing King of the Mountain—on top of the chicken coop.
Now, before anyone panics, the coop roof is flat and sturdy, about five feet high—perfectly goat-approved for standing, prancing, and declaring dominance. There they were, side by side, striking poses like they were auditioning for a calendar titled Extreme Goating: Heights Edition.
“Hey,” says one (because yes, they absolutely talk to each other), “I’m higher than everyone else!”
To which the other one fires back, “No, you’re not. I’m up here too!”
The back-and-forth continued, as goats do, with much posturing, head-butting, and tail-flicking. Then came the real moment of inspiration. Goat #1 looks up toward the barn and says, “Wonder if I could jump up there? Then I’d be higher than you!”
Without missing a beat, Goat #2 replies, “But if you can jump up there, so can I. So then I’d be just as high as you. Na-na!”
And there you have it—the essence of goat logic: life’s not about safety or sense; it’s about bragging rights. The higher, the better. Never mind that gravity is real, or that the chickens underneath are squawking in protest.
Watching them up there, silhouetted against the sky, tails twitching and heads held high, I couldn’t help but laugh. Goats don’t need toys, they are the toys—constantly entertaining, endlessly inventive, and always keeping me on my toes.
So, for anyone who thinks farm life is peaceful and quiet, I invite you to spend a morning with my goats. It’s less “tranquil homestead” and more “Cirque du Goat-lay.” And judging by the looks on their smug little faces, I’m pretty sure the chicken coop roof has officially been claimed as their new throne.
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©2009 Sandy Davis | American Way Farm
5 comments:
Do goats and boys have the same DNA?
Those goats are high jumpers!!
Shellmo - The coop has a slanted roof and is about 3' off the ground on the backside. That's still pretty high though, especially for 6 week old kids. -Sandy
lol, what a cute photo! :) seems to be you have your hands full....what fun it must be to have a farm. love your posts, maybe one day we will get animals too, mt man and peanut want them...so I might be out ruled. :~P
Aren't goats fun? We had a big willow come down so we cut it up into 10' lengths and built kid jungle gyms. They loved scampering up and down them; or jumping off onto a passing sheep back....
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