This is Nibbles’ favorite spot to greet the sun in the morning:

I can’t get over how sweet Lilly is. I never felt this bad for Nibbles when Cuzco was mean to her because Nibbles is a scrappy, rough-n-tumble little thing who seems to enjoy a bit of fisticuffs, even if she loses. And let’s face it–Nibbles regularly asked for a beating. Lilly tries to stay out of everyone’s way and still gets pummeled. Nibbles is starting to be a teensy bit nicer to her, but Cuzco pounds Lilly (and I mean HARD) at every opportunity. I’m sure the poor goat is black and blue under all the fur. At least she’s faster and more nimble than Cuzco, so most of the time she can get out of his way before he reaches her.

As for me, I’m learning the art of managing three goats on walks. Cuzco knows he’s not to pound anyone if there are people nearby, and he’s really very good about it. If he starts to turn and give Lilly the ol’ stinkeye, all I have to do is say his name in a menacing fashion and he immediately backs off. Nibbles is still learning. She’ll usually be good, but every now and then if Nibbles and Lilly have been walking side-by-side for too long, Nibbles can’t resist the urge to suddenly haul off and pound Lilly (usually right into my legs) for no apparent reason. That’s when Nibbles gets a spanking. But those spankings are happening less often now, and usually I just have to say Nibbles’ name gruffly when I see that head start to tilt.

We haven’t even had Lilly one week and already we’re teaching her all of Nibbles’ bad habits… er… tricks. Yesterday I got them to do some synchronized dancing.

Lilly loves to help out around the house. Today I was vacuuming windowsills and washing windows. I’m amazed at how calm she is. I turned on the vacuum while she was hanging her head in the window and she didn’t even flinch.

Lilly spent the afternoon with me on the front porch while I washed windows. She is always mildly interested in whatever I’m doing, but unlike Nibbles and Cuzco, she stays out of the way and out of trouble. I thought for sure I’d have to guard the water bucket, the rags in my back pockets, the squeegees. But no, she was content just to follow me around and not interfere.

Lilly is a very talkative little thing. She’s quiet when she’s by herself or with the other goats, but she keeps up a running commentary whenever there are people around. She’s not loud or fussy, just conversational. She’s the caprine equivalent of Anne of Green Gables. 

Allow me to introduce you to “Lilly”, a six-month old Alpine/Sable Saanen cross. She’s an absolute love. We brought her home on Friday. Poor little thing doesn’t have a friend in our herd right now. Nibbles uses her for a punching bag, and Cuzco won’t let her anywhere near him. They ditched her and went out to browse this morning, so I let her come up on the porch with me. She made friends with the tin goats. They don’t hit her when she comes up to say hi and they even let her sample their pumpkin!

Lilly is much less stocky than Nibbles but will certainly end up taller. She’s got a fine, soft, silky coat that is amazing to run my fingers through. It’s not nearly as thick as Nibbles’ but is a bit longer. Lilly is a lot more “chill” than my other two goats. She was fine with hoof trimming, worming, bathing, and even blow drying. She was just happy to bask in the glow of human attention. She’s nowhere near as feisty as Nibbles and will probably always get pushed around, but she doesn’t seem to mind too much. Apparently she was at the bottom of the pecking order at the much larger herd she came from, so she’s used to getting beat up. In fact, it’s given her a very high pain tolerance. She didn’t seem to mind getting zapped by my electric fence. Repeatedly. She doesn’t like it, but I watched her stand there and take it for about four zaps until she finally decided to mosey on.

The only time when Lilly is NOT chill is during feeding time! She knows if she doesn’t eat fast, she won’t eat at all. She figured out the secret of diving her head into the bucket and keeping it there no matter what the other goats do. She got her head into Nibbles’ bucket, and Nibbles lifted her off her feet a few times trying to dislodge her. Lilly simply picked up the bucket with her head and ran off with it, which worked great except she couldn’t see! She ran into the side of the house and lost half the grain there, but Nibbles was forced to eat what spilled because Lilly simply wouldn’t let Nibbles into the bucket. Nibbles was extremely put out until she discovered that biting Lilly’s ears did the trick. Phil and I were laughing too hard at their antics to interfere. Lilly may get beat up, but she knows how to take it and she will stand her ground when the stakes are high!

For some odd reason, the goats are obsessed with the horse water. Naturally, they have their own supply of clean, fresh water that is changed daily, but they will always prefer to drink from the horse trough whether it’s clean or dirty. I guess it’s because animals are jealous by nature and are convinced that whatever they get, what someone else gets has to be better. Of course by the time the horse trough is halfway empty, I do wonder what they see in it. My horses have a nasty habit of using their water for mouthwash, swishing it liberally around before spitting it right back into the trough. So by the time the water level gets down a bit, it’s always green, slimy, and full of bugs and other nasty floaties. But the goats will practically fall in just to reach it with the ends of their tongues.

Cuzco will sometimes put one leg over the side and then lean down. One time he tipped the trough and dumped it over his head. I was in stitches. Cuzco was indignant.

The water must not be too low… Cuzco can reach if he just stands on three legs.

Nibbles can only reach it on two legs. I’m not sure how she manages to do this without choking. She always looks like she got hung up on the trough and died.

Our final hike in Utah was to Upper Calf Creek Falls. It was a lovely and much less popular trail than the lower falls. I wish we had brought our swimsuits, but the water was COLD, so I’m not sure how long we would have played in it in any case. We toyed with the idea of throwing goats in since we’ve heard so many proud testimonies of swimming goats on these forums, but we decided that would be just plain mean.

Contemplative Phil by the pool above the falls. We loved the colors in the rocks.

Because every photo is better if it has a goat in the foreground:

Bigfoot wuz here.

There was another pool with a small waterfall a short way above the first. It was secluded and we would never have known it was back there if we hadn’t been told. It was a great spot for swimming–there was a perfect leaping spot about twelve feet above a deep, clear pool. But due to the fact that we did not bring swimsuits, we only took a brief dip. It was quit cold and we shivered back into our clothes right away lest we frighten unsuspecting fellow tourists. The goats did not approve of such scandalous activity.

This was the diving-in spot. Well, I dove. Phil jumped. Nibbles was thinking about it until she saw Phil and I take the plunge. I think the poor goat was scandalized.

A long, cool drink from the falls.

And that concludes our “goat vacation.” I hope ya’ll enjoyed coming along for the ride. 

After Devil’s Garden we moseyed over to Lower Calf Creek Falls. This is a very popular hike for obvious reasons. It is easy, scenic, and has a spectacular finale. The ranger at the parking lot was not sure we were allowed to bring goats on the trail, but he checked it out with his superiors and they decided that since dogs are allowed, then there’s no reason goats shouldn’t be, as long as we kept them on leashes. We would have done this anyway without being told since the trail was so crowded. We must have been stopped about 25 times by curious and mostly foreign tourists, many of whom wanted photos.

Our first glance of Lower Calf Creek Falls.

The sun had gone behind the rocks, so by the time we arrived at the falls the crowds had cleared out and we had the place to ourselves.

“Careful not to get your feet wet, Nibbles!”

Devil’s Garden was one of the best places for climbing on rocks. The sandstone looked like sunset–orange at the bottom and yellow up top. The photos don’t do justice to the brilliance of the colors as the sun reflected off the glowing rock formations.

I didn’t know we would meet a giant penguin in Utah!

And Alvin’s Chipmunks!

“Nibbles, you daredevil!”

I refuse to be outdone by a goat!

And we part with a lovely shot of a lovely goat.

We forgot the camera for our hike up Escalante River, but we went to Willis Creek the next day and explored a bunch of slot canyons. I think this was my favorite day of the trip. It’s hard to call one hike “prettier” than another, but there was something so enchanting about the narrow cracks of sculpted sandstone. Cuzco carried our lunch and water that day. The few other hikers we encountered were supremely jealous!

“Whatcha lookin’ at, Nibbles?”


Nibbles and I were brave and hiked up to this arch.

A well-earned drink. 

The next stop on our goat vacation was Goblin Valley, UT. This is one of Phil and my favorite little spots in Utah and is always worth a stop. The best bit is that even though it’s a state park, there are no fences, no “Keep Off” signs, no long lists of rules about not touching or climbing on the formations or damaging the cryptocraptic crust. We were also pleased to discover that there aren’t any rules about keeping pets on leashes, so we were able to let the goats explore!