We thought about trying to carry Nibbles down, but she’s pretty hefty these days and has a lot of kick in her. She would probably try to jump if we picked her up at that height, and she might take her rescuer with her. And that ladder was not exactly a bastion of support. The thing has to be at least thirty years old and kept threatening to collapse in the middle if we did more than tiptoe.

Coaxing, bribing, and threatening had gotten us nowhere. It was time to force the issue. I had a spare horse halter in my trailer. It was too big, but it was the best I had.

Tim and Phil (not pictured) climbed to the top and lowered a rope.

“Ready, Nibbles?”

“Engage goat levitation device!”

“We have liftoff!”

Phil and I and my brother Tim took a walk. Just a simple walk. We stopped to talk and rest at the top of an unused driveway overlooking the valley and the little-used dirt road below. Nibbles decided to explore. And here’s where she ended up:

She climbed down and couldn’t get back up the way she came because the ledges were too narrow to get a good jump. She couldn’t go down any further because it was a very long drop. She was stuck!

So Tim and Phil walked home and came back with our truck and my dad’s extension ladder.

We attached a rope to her collar and tried to coax her onto the ladder to climb down to us. I’ve seen goats trained to use ladders, but I knew this was a long shot.

Next I moved the ladder and tried to convince Nibbles to climb over towards me along some narrow ledges. She wasn’t convinced.

“Poor Nibbles! It’s ok, we’ll get you down somehow.”

Phil and I needed a vacation. But what is a vacation without goats? We decided to take a goat vacation!

We loaded Cuzco and Nibbles into the horse trailer and headed for Utah. We stayed in Escalante, which is located between Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks. We had four days of gorgeous hikes through fantastic scenery. The goats got to climb to their heart’s content.

It started out with a bang though. We stopped for a couple of nights in my old hometown of Lake City, CO to stay with my parents. That’s where Nibbles turned a simple walk into a not-so-simple several-hour goat rescue project.

Yesterday was our Homecoming Parade, and Phil showed up as a Roman charioteer!

I wish I could have gotten a better photo, but I was on a horse and Cuzco was on the warpath. He wanted to run around and meet every horse in the lineup, but the horses didn’t particularly want to meet Cuzco, especially with that cart trundling along behind him. So Phil had to keep him under a very tight rein the whole time.

At first I was glad Phil brought Cuzco down, but as the parade progressed I became a bit jealous. I was riding with my local saddle club and my horse was stealing the show. He’s the most amazing color right now–dark stormcloud gray and silver with black mane and legs and wild dapples all over. He was getting all the “ooh’s” and “aah’s” from the crowd until they saw the goat cart. Too bad the photo is all lousy and washed out–it doesn’t nearly do Jet justice.

The soot pile is still a favorite. We call it “The Volcano”.

Who’s been playing in The Volcano? White faces don’t lie!

“If you let me on the porch, I promise I won’t poop… much.”

Pleeeeeaaaase???

It’s Nibbles’ turn!

These hammock swings are Nibbles’ favorite toy. The way she swoops around on them reminds me of a little kid playing “Superman”. 

Summer is a good time for sitting in the porch swings, and it’s never so much fun as when we let the goats join us on the deck.

Stale hot dog buns are the best!

Almost gone…

A well-fed and satisfied goat!

Nibbles prefers grapes.

Our home’s previous owner had a favorite spot to dump ashes from the wood stove. After years of use, it got buried in pine needles. Cuzco and Nibbles found it. They dug it out. They now have a six-inch deep soot pit to lounge in, roll in, paw up clouds of black dust in, and tussle over. Nibbles likes to bury her head in it, which means I’ve had to take a wet washcloth to her face a few times, but she has to wait until Cuzco is done napping there because he takes up the whole thing.

Tonight I had the rare treat of watching Cuzco and Nibbles genuinely playing. I wish I’d had the camera! Nibbles had her head tucked in behind Cuzco’s horn while they wrestled and it was so cute! Cuzco was incredibly gentle with her. Nibbles would put her whole weight into trying to push him, and to my great astonishment, Cuzco actually took steps backward to let her “win” for a few minutes until he retook the ground he’d given. I’ve only seen him boss her (especially over dinner), and I’ve never seen him pretend to give her the upper hand, even for a second. They conked heads a few times, Cuzco being careful not to hit her too hard.

Then, it happened. Cuzco gave Nibbles an uppercut just as she came down from standing on her hind legs. His horn slipped right through her collar. Poor Nibbles! As the collar twisted around, her eyes bugged out and she started choking as she was lifted off her feet. Of course, I instantly dropped what I was doing and began to hustle, thinking “Cuzco, please don’t break her neck!” and “Drat, Nibbles can never wear a collar again!”

But then the most incredible thing happened. Cuzco very gently and very carefully lowered Nibbles back to the ground, staying perfectly calm, then deftly executed a tricky little maneuver involving a complicated head twist. The horn slid right out of the collar and Nibbles was free. All I could think is how lucky I am to have such a wise old goat.

Phil and I went back to western NY a few years ago and visited the farm where we’d bought Cuzco. It was amazing how much the herd had grown in a few years! There were a lot more dairy goats, most of them crosses. The lady had also added a few Boers, and these were some of the few obviously purebred animals and also the only horned ones except for Cuzco’s twin sister, who had been retained as part of the dairy string. It’s easy to see the family resemblance. She was easily the biggest doe in the herd.

I don’t know if Cuzco’s mother was still alive, but this doe looked just like her minus the horns. But when I remember back, I believe Cuzco’s mother along with all the other goats in that herd had bands on their horns at the time we bought Cuzco. I’m going to pretend that this is Cuzco’s mother anyway. 

Then there was this Nubian doe who I swear had to have the same father as Cuzco. There was an uncanny resemblance in the balance of the markings, the roaning, and something about the head and neck and the rangy body type. She was quite pretty and reminded me too much of Cuzco not to be related somehow.