"What is that, yoga?"

We have at my house no shortage of bamboo. Whatever spiteful gardener that previously lived here has left us and our neighbors with an infestation. But, as we now know, one man's trash, is another goat herder's treasure.

So, with the Jeep loaded down with the results of a heavy thinning, Brian and I headed to Mrs. Charlie's to share the haul with the herd. As anticipated, they were happy to see us.

What we hadn't anticipated, however, was getting lucky enough to be present for a goat birth. Unbelievable timing. And as if the timing weren't perfect enough, this happened to be the last remaining pregnant goat of the season.

Notice Abbey in the background. As you can tell, those dogs are incredibly vigilant and protective. Mrs. Charlie could not speak highly enough of her two Great Pyrenees. She stressed that had the goat given birth in the evening out in the pasture, one dog would have escorted the herd back to the barn for the night, and the other would stay by the newborn kid and its mother all night. She added that her predation rate since the two dogs' arrival has dropped to zero. Man and goat's best friend.

This particular goat is a Toggenburg named "Cripplet." (Her not-so-subtle name is the result a knee-stiffening birth defect that initially made walking impossible.) The sole leftover of a donated group of goats, she's the only one of her kind in Mrs. Charlie's herd. In most cases, though, Toggenburgs are used primarily as dairy goats.

Also, I'll take advantage of the corny segue opportunity and mention the birth of this blog's Facebook page.