12.18.2010

Goat Summit 2010

Recently, this year's goat herd owners and I met in the Dougie House basement to determine the fate of our four brave goats. Ultimately, as was the case last year, all four will be killed, butchered, and turned into a delicious meal. The question is when.

Because of exams, work schedules, and the holiday break, it was decided that the goats would remain on Dana and Mikey's property, where they can continue to destroy the backyard's privet, honeysuckle, and English ivy population until everyone returns after the New Year. Then, sometime during the second or third week of January, all four goats will be killed, slow roasted, and celebrated with another Dougie caliber cookout.

Pictures and notes from the Dana/Mikey goat compound will be posted in a few week's time. Meanwhile, the latest report on the herd is that they have continued to clean up the yard and, most importantly, begun to concentrate on the groundlayer of English ivy.

12.01.2010

"This is a private residence, man!"

Like last year, the goats were together again for Thanksgiving Break. This time, the reunion took place in Dana and Mikey's yard, home of Trevor and Cody - the humble, grounded goats pictured below.


You'll have to use your imagination to compare the pictures below with what was once an opaque mass of privet and honeysuckle. Everything under 4 feet has been stripped bare, improving sight lines back into the yard. Hopefully, the groundlayer of English ivy will be the next course...




It looks like the goats will probably remain at Dana's over Christmas break as well. Not to knock on the Dougie House fence - which no doubt has more character - but Dana and Mikey's yard is a fortress. Almost 2 months, and not a single escape story.
From a restorative perspective, this offers some opportunities to
  • continue tracking how much damage 4 goats can do in over a month's time
  • observe how much leafing out the Dougie House yard experiences with no goats for a month
  • see how long it takes for the goats to clean up the Dougie House again after the break