Friday, December 15, 2006

The life and death of two old goats

Robert and Felicity were two of our first farm animals. I remember the day we brought them to the home. We put the two of them in their pasture and within five minutes Felicity had tested, and been shocked by, the electric fence. That was her wont. She was a smart goat, always watching, always calculating. Her nephew, Robert, was just a kid then, not even a year old. Felicity always kept him in his place, even when he grew to outweigh her by half. Perhaps that’s why Robert had such a nasty attitude – from being hen-pecked by his aunt all his life.

Robert and Felicity. Photo by Maureen Spencer

Robert and Felicity were living enigmas. Robert would try to hook you with his horns, or bite you if he had a chance. When he was about six months old he butted Meggy (about one and half then) right in the chest. They killed trees (eating the bark until they ringed them), bullied sheep so bad that we had to put them in a separate pasture, and always looked at us with those strange eyes as if to say – I’ll get you good if I get the chance. At the same time they would eat out of your hand every so sweetly and gently and if you put a halter on them they would quietly go anywhere with you.

After 13 years of living at our farm, Robert and Felicity were put to sleep today. They had contracted a parasite during the summer and despite all her efforts, Maureen lost the battle to save them. Because of their age and condition, she decided to have then euthanized before the nasty cold winter came. I cannot fault her on this decision. The life expectancy of an angora goat is 8-12 years. Robert was 13 and Felicity was 15.

3 Comments:

Blogger getyergoat-goatgifts said...

Oh My gosh I am so sorry to hear that- I wish I could have spoken to you sooner.. I have angora goats- I lost my big wether at age 20 - I'd say half my herd is in the over 14 yr old range.. all the way up to 17 now.. The photo is beautiful.. Im so very sorry for your loss..
Huge Goatie Hugs coming your way!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On April 19 I lost Ma-

Ma is now with my Beloved Georgie and others I have watched climb the stairs to Heaven:

If Tears Could Build A Stairway
And Memories A Lane
I’d Walk Right Up To Heaven
And Bring You Home Again

It's been a very long day- tomorrows will never be the same-
goatlady

Link: http://goat-link.com/GoatladysGoats/ma.html

4:34 PM  
Blogger Melody said...

My sincerest condolesences.

7:47 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very sorry for your loss, Bruce. You're right ... that look in their eyes ... they were up to something.

4:47 AM  

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