Goats, as we all know, are stubborn and unpredictable creatures. When my husband recently fenced a small area of the field behind our house - a field overgrown with every weed the goats love and one of their favorite places to be taken on walks - I was certain Em and Ellie would be delighted. I planned to leave them out there for hours each day as they chomped and munched their way to full rumens. Dismayed when the goats instead cried pitifully when we introduced them to their new habitat, I embarked on a new plan of behavior modification. I would train them to love the fenced area, that was that.
Yesterday the girls and I took the goats down to the field, first allowing them to graze the area just outside the fence. Then, using a bit of cunning and a mound of animal crackers, we lured them inside the fence. Same exact weeds, only thing different is the lack of freedom to roam onto the road, for example. Just keep eating, boys...
My daughters and I started walking nonchalantly up towards the house. Instant panic!! Hysteria!! Our abandoned pets began hurling themselves against the metal prison, bleating in terror at the situation. First Emerson, then Elliot started running in frantic circles inside the fence perimeter, around and around as they cried for rescue.
"Just keep walking," I told Emily. "Once we're out of sight, I'm sure they'll calm down." From inside the house we watched their berserk behavior for five minutes - ten - fifteen - with no signs of abatement. Finally - fearful they would collapse from exhaustion or heart failure - I grabbed a paperback novel and stomped down to the field. I hurled a plastic chair over the fence (both goats moved just in time so nobody got injured) and squeezed through the gate. Those crazy critters waited until I sat down, then turned away and began yanking up mouthfuls of weeds, perfectly content. Apparently it is the loneliness, not the fence, that they mind.
My book, one of a series by a new favorite author, kept me on the edge of that plastic chair until the cliffhanger ending. Yes, I believe the behavior modification is going well. I just need to make a quick trip to the library for more books...
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