Light for the 'Fraidy Goats

When I read in a book that goats are afraid of the dark, I scoffed. These are outdoor animals, native to places like Tibet and Wyoming where surely there is ample darkness - and how exactly would you know this fact anyway? Are herds of wild goats clustering around lone streetlights in the desert, or building little campfires?

Yet, a mere eight months into our own goating experience, I believe this is true. Unlike my nocturnal cats who howl at the door to go out every evening, Emerson and Elliot fear the night, often sleeping outside (illuminated by the moon) instead of in their cozy (but scary dark) shed. Since our outdoor floodlight which brightens their pen also shines directly into all the bedroom windows, I used to turn it off every night before I went to bed, opening the side garage door to reach the switch. Somehow the goats learned to associate the sound of that door with the onset of terrifying darkness, and even after I bought room-darkening shades for the bedrooms and started leaving the light on for them, they still startle when we open that door for any reason, freezing in panic with ears perked up, prepared to bolt for the safety of the tiny solar lights which cast a dim glow around their shed. I have tried to decondition this fear by opening the door multiple times during the day and bringing them fresh hay and treats from it, but the terror is still too deeply ingrained.

Over the weekend the inevitable happened - the floodlight bulb burned out. As this is an expensive and hard-to-find specialty item, as well as being mounted just below the second-story roofline and requiring an extension ladder to change, I mentioned the task to my husband so he could leave some time in his schedule. He peered up at the roof, then got in his car and drove away, hopefully to go buy a new bulb, I thought. When he returned with three bags and several long pipes, I was puzzled. All this to change a lightbulb? Then he got a shovel and drill from the garage, and suddenly we were all drafted into digging trenches in the yard as he drilled through the block wall to run electric to the goat shed. Several hours later the goats were the proud owners of their own outlet (set up high, well out of chewing range) and a lamp mounted outside the shed so bright it can probably be seen from space. Unfortunately the only plug-in nightlight I had on hand was a pink American Girl "Coconut the fluffy dog" light, and they are very embarrassed by that, but it casts a wonderful soft glow in their shed...life is good in the goat world. What's next? Maybe their own TV?