It’s not official yet (we like to think these things over for a day or two), but we’re leaning toward naming this little guy “Huckleberry Finn”.

My horses escaped today and Lilly went into labor while I was out looking for them. I got home with them about 20 minutes after her water broke, and Phil was about to call in reinforcements (we have a “goat mentor” who helps us during these type of emergencies), but I arrived in time. When I got there, I saw a bubble but no feet, and since she’d been at it for 20 minutes with no progress I knew it was time to intervene.

Phil and I dragged Lilly to her feet and got her out of the shed and onto the grass in the sunshine where we had more room to work and more light to see. The first thing I felt was a mouth with sharp teeth. Right below it were the hooves. He was in the correct position, but he was trying to come out all at once. I pushed his head back a bit and grabbed a hoof. Apparently our little guy didn’t want to come out because as soon as I pulled his hoof he yanked it right back in.

By this time, poor Lilly was screaming her head off in pain while Phil held her head and braced shoulder and tried to comfort and encourage her. That head was huge and it didn’t want to come out even with the feet where they belonged. But with a lot of yelling and pushing from Lilly and a lot of pulling from me and bracing from Phil, we got that kid out, and all the pain of delivery was forgotten in a moment.

He was a lively little sucker! We had him cleaned off and nursing in no time, and he was walking before we knew what happened. He weighed in at a good 11 lbs.! I didn’t think our little Lilly-goat could deliver a baby that big. I told her she should have twins–they’re usually a bit smaller. But does she listen to me? No! Of course not!

This is a special photograph. Look closely above Phil’s head. The aliens are watching.

Yesterday, Pac-Man accompanied Phil and I on his first-ever hike! He’s been on walks with us and the girls nearly every day since we got him, but not any bona-fide hikes on real live hiking trails! Cuzco came too, of course, to show the little squirt how a proper packgoat does things.

Pac-Man started off the first half-mile by continually trying to sneak past me. I couldn’t let my guard down for a moment. His persistence ended when Phil handed me his flannel shirt to carry and I whapped Pac-Man across the face with it as he tried to dart around my legs. That startled him and he kept a safe distance afterwards.

Unfortunately, keeping a safe distance made Pac-Man nervous (or perhaps he was crying because his feelings were hurt), so he started up a racket of mournful baa-aa-s. He kept stopping in the trail and looking back as well. Cuzco, who was in the rear, did not tolerate this behavior for long. He began shoving Pac-Man in the bottom every time he stopped, which kept the procession going, but it did nothing to shut the little goat up.

So Cuzco took charge and rearranged the hiking order.

Once he was relegated to the back, Pac-Man settled down, stopped crying, quit turning around, and things went on very nicely until we got to our first water crossing. Cuzco hesitated only enough to decide the best path before showing Pac-Man how to properly negotiate a creek.

Unfortunately, Cuzco’s example did not leave much of an impression on Pac-Man. This is as far as he would go:

Phil and I thought that if we hiked off he would eventually muster up the courage to follow. We disappeared into the woods, closing our ears to Pac-Man’s frantic despairing cries, but unfortunately our plan didn’t work out. I peered back through the trees only to see Pac-Man running desperately up the trail in the wrong direction!

I quickly went back and called to him, and relief washed over his panicked face when he saw me, but it wasn’t enough to make him cross the water. Oh well… we encountered the same problem with Nibbles’ first water crossing when we took her with us to Utah two years ago, so I guess we can’t blame Pac-Man’s Nubian heritage. Not everyone is born a natural. It was time to break out the leash and force the issue.

I walked over the log bridge and I hauled on the leash until Pac-Man was forced to come after me. He did not make a very graceful first attempt, I’m afraid. Because he was pulling against me but trying to run across quickly at the same time, he lost his balance halfway and fell into the brush on the downstream side. He leaped out, a little wet and somewhat terrified, but otherwise fine.

The first crossing wasn’t up to spec, so I figured now was a good opportunity to practice a couple more times. This time I waded in to show Pac-Man that water is safe. Contrary to his suspicions, it does not burn skin off like acid. Pac-Man stood resolutely on the bank, all four feet planted firmly, while I waded into the water. When I reached the end of the lead, I turned around and hauled away, thinking I could drag him in. Instead, Pac-Man responded with an almighty LEAP. I got a panicked glimpse of a goat hurtling airborne right toward my body before I turned and scrambled desperately out of the way. He cleared the eight-foot gap between us at chest-level and landed with a splash almost on top of me before bolting up the bank. I avoided getting flattened or dunked, but I do have a nice bruise on my calf where one of his hooves got me in passing.

Thankfully that was the end of the water drama. Pac-Man figured out how to walk (well, run) across the log after that.

Honestly, Pac-Man much prefers water crossings like this one:

I get more impressed with this old goat every time we take him anywhere. He just loves getting out and going places, and I think he really enjoyed showing off his water and log crossing skills to Pac-Man. Pac-Man even learned some things about log crossing. Cuzco also set a good example of staying on the trail instead of cutting switchbacks. We were having problems with that when Pac-Man was in front, but once Cuzco took the lead, there was no more trail-cutting.

On the way home I was brave enough to let the boys stand loose in the truck bed. This is a skill that Cuzco has that I want Pac-Man to learn. They did great! Cuzco did not try to shove Pac-Man out of the truck. When Pac-Man was smaller I worried about this so I always tied everyone up.

This is how Cuzco likes to ride–with his head to the wind!

We had a bit of brief excitement this morning. Lilly is due any day now, so I always peek out the window first thing in the morning to see if everything seems normal. All the goats were in their sheds so I didn’t bother them and went upstairs. An hour or so later I heard a horrible screaming cry. It sounded like a human toddler! I rushed downstairs to see what was happening. My only thought was, “Oh my gosh! Lilly kidded last night and a baby is tangled in the electric fence!”

But when I came outside, all seemed quiet. The goats were bunched in one corner of the pen staring wide-eyed at Daisy. Lilly had her hackles up, but no babies. When I went out to check on everyone, Daisy was beside herself and Lilly was on the warpath. Apparently Lilly has kicked into aggressive mode and I think she pushed Daisy into the electric fence. Lilly attacked Daisy a couple more times as I was letting everyone out. I wonder if I’ll have to put Daisy outside the pen for a while until Lilly settles down, or if Daisy will figure out how to stay out of Lilly’s way.

Those two have always had a very rough-and-tumble relationship with a lot of play-fighting and dirty tricks, but both of them always looked as though they were enjoying it. I regularly see Lilly sneak up behind Daisy and snatch a chunk of hair out of her tail. When Daisy yelps and jumps, Lilly struts off with head high and tail arched over her back, waiving the ball of fluff triumphantly. Sometimes Lilly bowls Daisy over. At other times Daisy ambushes Lilly out of nowhere and nips her ear or cheek then streaks away with a gleeful grin on her face. Neither of them has ever taken these hijinks seriously, and one will usually chase the other after a prank. But this morning’s encounter looked serious, and no one was laughing. I’ll have to keep a close watch and make sure Lilly doesn’t get too aggressive. Daisy is a great guard dog and I don’t want her losing her enthusiasm for her job.

The morning after the snowstorm our eyes were treated to a beautiful emerald green landscape running up to mountains covered in white. Everything was sparkling, washed, and new. The colors were saturated next to the purest white of the mountain. Photos don’t remotely do the scene justice. 

This morning we woke up to a beautiful sight.

Good morning Nubbin!

Petunia says, “It’s snowing on my fur!”

Daisy enjoys a welcome relief from the heat. She’s been swimming in the cow pond to cool off. Snow is so much nicer!

Pac-Man has been taking camera posing lessons from Cuzco. Perhaps he’s taking them a bit far.

Nubbin says, “Cuzco kicked me out again! Tell him to let me back in!”

Phil built a new campfire ring this afternoon and Lilly tested it out. It fits perfectly.

Once the fire was going Cuzco was the only goat who was interested. He loves campfires and he always hangs around by my chair, no doubt hoping for a handout, but he also gets very friendly at campfires. He’s loved campfires since he was a baby and the only time he would climb in my lap was when we were next to one. I have no idea why. I had to put a stop to that after he got to be about a year old, of course, but I’ve always wondered why he gets so snuggly around a campfire. It must be the old “Kum-ba-ya” spirit.

Cuzco also loves listening to Phil play the fiddle. None of the other goats seem all that interested, but Cuzco never gets tired of it. Neither do I, for that matter!

Looks like Cuzco is singing along!

I hitched Cuzco to his cart on Saturday and Sunday. Naturally there were people lined up and clamoring to get a ride right up to the time I hitched up, at which point everyone disappeared to either compete in or watch the massive showmanship classes that began in all three rings at once. So I seized the opportunity to take a pleasant drive around the fairgrounds myself.

Later on we gave rides to everyone from tiny babies…

to old grandmas.

We gave rides to kids…

And kids holding kids. (Yes, that is a baby goat in her arms.)

And the real feather in the cap was when the dairy goat judge asked us if we would take a photo of him in the cart. So we brought Cuzco into the ring and snapped a photo. I’m disappointed that there is so much dust in the picture, but it’s still one to remember!

Saturday evening we took Cuzco and Pac-Man for a stroll around the fairgrounds. Cuzco found a party hat and enjoyed posing with it.

We had quite an exciting time at the Weld County Goat Extravaganza this past weekend. Phil and I brought Cuzco the Wonder Goat and his pesky sidekick, Pac-Man. No superhero is complete without a sidekick, of course, but one must wonder if their most amazing power lies in their ability to put up with the little creeps. 

Cuzco was in his element. He seems to love these shows. This is now the second one I’ve brought him to and once again he seemed to revel in the charged atmosphere, the crowds, the bustle, the cameras. I think I realized for the first time at this show that Cuzco is really and truly my goat. Or at least that I’m his person. As long as I was in the building he tracked me everywhere, never taking his eyes off me. If I went out one door and came in another, he’d still be watching the door I left from. He hasn’t baa-aa-ed for years, but this weekend when I would return after leaving him for a while, he would let out a soft, gutteral baa-aa from deep down in his throat. He was never upset when I would leave, but he never let me out of his sight when I was around. Cuzco laid down for a nap while I was getting lunch and I didn’t want to disturb him so I tiptoed past his stall. I think he caught my scent as I passed because his head popped up and he looked eagerly around. By then I was behind his head and he didn’t see me so he laid back down. I must say I was deeply moved by his attachment to me. It’s hard to imagine how such an ornery old goat can have such a deep affection for anyone.

Cuzco was quite congenial all weekend, but I put warning signs on his stall anyway just as a precaution. They said, “Admire me from a distance but PLEASE DON’T TOUCH! I’m old and cranky and well-armed!” Cuzco did his best to lure people over and tempt them to put their hands in his stall anyway.

Cuzco and I helped Phil with his packgoat presentation, and Cuzco wowed everyone with his repertoire of tricks. Most people didn’t realize you can actually train goats to do things like shake hands and spin and bow!

Bow was a new one. I wasn’t sure how easy it would be to teach Cuzco this one since he’s already known “Repent!” for many years. He’s always been required to go down on two knees and got no cookie for doing a half-baked one-knee bow. But this time I wanted him to go down on one knee. It only took him a week to learn it. I still have to put my foot behind his left hoof to remind him not to bend that leg back, but he did it very well to much cheering and applause.