Goats goin' to work.

I'm justifying putting up this embarrassing picture with the fact that it gives a human scale to the plants around him. A necessary evil.

Again, here's some more if you're really digging these goat pictures.

Miss Charlie's Goat Farm

Some goats under the barn

Ray misbehaving

Notice the blood on Andy's forehead. Wrangling up goats in tight quarters got real in a hurry.

Miss Chuck's pastoral views

Here's a few more, if you're interested.

"And a good day to you, sir!"

What a day yesterday was. Started around 7:00 AM with a biscuit and gravy from the dining hall, then off to the Dougie House to do some last minute repairs to the fence. I got rained on briefly, but there's enough trees on the property to make light sprinkles bearable. There must have been some fraternizing last night, because I think I spooked a few co-eds while working close to the downstairs windows. The unnamed pack of females emerged from the basement, wished me luck with my goats, and started off on their "walk of shame." Dougies doin' work.

Met Miss Charlie the goat farmer and her husband, Andy, around 10:30. We went straight up to the barn and I got a little lesson on worming. My trio was already hanging out in a pen under the barn. After entering the pen, you pick a winner, grab him by the leg, hold on like Hell, and wrestle his head still against your hip. It looked a little something like this, only my goats didn't seem to enjoy it as much.

Once you've got their head in a People's headlock, they chill a little. But then you have to squirt some nasty yellow concoction down their throats. They make it very obvious they don't appreciate it. Struggling, spitting, and making the most obnoxious yelling noise right in your face. The Amish dude in the video above must really love on his goats, because my experience was no where near as peaceful.

Then we loaded up the goats in the back of the Jeep and talked for awhile. True to her word, Miss Chuck hooked us up with 3 feed pans, a bale of hay, and some feed. She and her husband are extremely friendly and generous and were a pleasure to work with. All in all, I dropped under $150. (I'm including the cost of a $2 lottery ticket. I haven't scratched it yet, but I'll keep you updated.)

The ride home was surprisingly uneventful. I only caught one person in the next lane laughing at me and my mobile herd, but there could have been more.

Upon arriving, Willy and Taylor came out to greet the new landscaping crew. The goats didn't seem to care much about their new friends, seeing as they didn't look up from eating until 6 hours later. Literally as soon as their hooves hit the ground, they started chowing down. If it was green, they ate it. Like watching a bunch of chubby kids hit the candy aisle. I was ecstatic.

Until right before kickoff, I stuck around and observed my goats doing their thing. They just walked around, browsing on whatever greenery that happened to be near their mouths. From what I could tell, they don't have very picky tastes. In fact, they didn't seem to have much preference from one plant to the next. One minute they'd devour half a honeysuckle bush. The next they'd be shearing a privet stalk down to 12 inches off the ground. Brought tears to my eyes. Then, however, they'd move right along to my pepper plants, and annihilate them one at a time. I'm willing to make sacrifices though.