I had spoken with Duncan the same day I met with Miss Charlie. Conditions weren't ideal. I was on the street with Duncan in his yard, separated by a wall of camellias. He seemed a little taken aback by our idea of housing three goats out back. He and his wife are avid gardeners, so I could tell it didn't take long for the image of goats munching on their annual flower beds to cross his mind. As predicted, his main concern was the goats using the creek channel/ditch as a passageway into his backyard.
He scoffed at the idea of installing fencing across the creek. Inevitably, debris would collect upstream and create a mess. He questioned the proposition's legality, as well. I'll admit to some truth stretching, but it didn't seem to improve his outlook. I left a little discouraged with only a "Well, we'll think about it."
Yesterday, I tried again with fresh vegetables as my ammunition. Dora answered the door this time. Unfortunately, I had interrupted supper, but she hung around the doorstep long enough to give some good news. The homegrown peppers couldn't have hurt our cause, but she said that they had decided the idea had some merit, and were excited to see the project along. In fact, Dora was a goat owner herself back in her day. So, she could turn out to be a valuable resource right next door.
The other neighbor, a Brazilian woman who's name I cannot pronounce or remember, is a professor at the veterinary college on campus. As any good animal lover would, she gave us the green light on the proposition. As is the case on the other side, this neighbor could be a good contact if anything ever goes wrong.
So, with a previous goat owner on one side and a veterinarian on the other, it's looking like we'd really have put a conscious effort into failing for this project to not succeed. Tonight's game plan is to construct some sort of shelter. Today's LAND3530 doodles and daydreams all point toward a three-sided structure of only cinder blocks and "Free Palestine" signs. But we'll see what happens.
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Great news! What are the chances of having a vet prof and a former goat owner both next door. Your creek fencing solution is going to be key. I'm certain that with a little research you can figure out a solution. I'm picturing a solid bar or wood post of some kind stretched across the creek from bank to bank, then some kind of real heavy bars or barriers of some kind hanging down vertically and that only swing in toward your side. Something like that will allow flood water and sticks to flow through under the fence but not allow the goats to push into your neighbor's yard.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea. The bars would have to be pretty close together. I watched one of the little guys at the farm squeeze through a gap in the fence no wider than 7 inches. Miss Chuck just nodded and equated their escaping abilities to Houdini's.
ReplyDeleteI'll check it out today, but there may be a way to lay our scrap 4" x 8' board horizontally over the water just enough to allow water and sizable junk to pass under - but no goats.
These goats would have to see some much greener grass on "Slam" Duncan's side for them to go through the trouble of wading knee deep under a barrier. I plan on keeping some tasty goat munchies on site at all times. That should keep the morale up enough to get em to set up shop in the back, not go out in search of greener pastures.