Imagine the "Oh SH*! moment when I arrive at the goat pen at our job in the Issaquah Highlands only to find it empty!! To better imagine let me explain...
So the mean value of houses here is no less than half a million and it goes up from there. This neighborhood has houses perched on a hillside with green spans between each row of houses heading up the mountain. We use the goats to clear said green spans as they are very steep and not safe for equipment or people for that matte,r to mow. Goats work GREAT!! Let me also say that all these houses have immaculate yards and gardens.
Now, with all that in mind consider the horror I felt when I checked on the herd only to find NO HERD!. It is a long skinny stretch and I cannot see from one end to the other. As I ever more quickly walk the length of it, I realize that it is indeed one of my worst nightmares come true..
At the far end I see people milling about in the street. This is kind of odd behavior here so I suspect they have seen the goats who have instituted a freedom march to greener pastures. I yell down, because they are far away."Are my goats down there?" No response comes back? I yell again "Have you seen my goats? Nothing.. I yell one more time actually I scream "ARE MY GOATS DOWN THERE!!!!!!?" Finally I get a response "YA, They went that a way!" "They are in the woods now"
Oh Super duper I think to myself. Actually, those are not the words I was thinking but you get my drift. They also say that they have called the cops and I am like oh GREAT!!
AT this point I run for my truck because we have to go a couple of blocks to get to where they were last seen. As we approach there are people and kids wandering about smiling and laughing and there is a trail of goat poop all over the road and sidewalks and yards but nary a goat in sight. "Where are they?" I ask.."Oh they are back in the woods and down by the pond below the houses now" I walk around to the huge basin which is the pond following the bread crumbs (goat turds) and sure enough there they were darting about in grand ADD goat fashion.. I get on my phone to Craig the other Goat guy working up here with me.. "Craig , my goats are all out I need you and Harvey, NOW!!" He says he will be right there"
I had left Pearl my herding dog down where my travel trailer was staged because I was just "going to check on the goats" "surely there will be no need for Pearl" WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Instead I had brought my new dog Rye who is barely trained and in training so we could have someone one on one time together.. So there I was with an entire herd on a walk about and no dog I could use to get them back in. Hence my need for Harvey Craig's dog.
While I was waiting for his and the Cops arrival I thought to myself, "how the hell am I going to get them back into their pen?" Now, with goats you always have to think of every conceivable thing they might do and be prepared for their tricky moves. In my wisdom and experience I decided to make a chute of netting from the end of the block up to their pen. I quickly recruited the residents to help by holding the fencing up. My Plan to run them up the middle of the street and keep them from scattering into peoples yards with the fencing.. I probably had 20 people and cops as they had just arrived, holding up the fencing. I decided to try to use Rye for even a little help. I put her on her long lead and we headed out to the pond area to await Craig and Harvey.. I got to the pond and save for about 3 goats no others were visible.. WTF? One of the residents who was gleefully watching the drama from his balcony said "they are over there beyond that hill, you can't see them from down there" "where?" I say, "Waaaaaaayyyyy down there" he says.. Sure enough on a very distant hill I see some specs which are indeed my goats.. "Holy Crap" I think.. "They are like a quarter mile away down by the baseball fields.." I call Craig to find out his ETA.. "I am almost there" he says.. I think, "good because much longer and they will be in Europe"
Craig and Harvey finally arrived and by now I was sweating bullets. I had him head down to retrieve the herd. Luckily Craig is not a gimp like I am so it was no big deal for him to head out cross county. It would have taken me like a year to get there with my bad knees.
Within a few minutes a wave of goats began running up over the hill and toward me and Rye. My thought was then "I hope they turn the corner here and run behind the houses and not go into the woods". I decided to go stand at the turn point with Rye on lead and hope they turned and didn't scatter. I yelled to the waiting fence holders "They are coming be ready!
The wave soon arrived and I was elated when they not only made the turn but slowed and moved forward at a trot and not a full gallop toward the awaiting goat chute. Rye and I followed the first wave to keep them moving to their pen and not stopping to munch on peoples ornate gardens.. Rye did great! Even though she is barely started in training she was able to keep them moving. She even endured a couple of head butts in the process, undaunted.
As is usual there were a couple of stragglers who were giving Harvey a hard time and trying to stand their ground. They came a couple at a time and before long we had most of them back in. Craig appeared carrying one small straggler because, well sometimes it is just easier to carry a goat then to herd it..
Finally everyone was back in and it was then time to say thank you to all who were" honorary goat wranglers" and start cleaning up.. Not a small task I might add because by then the street and sidewalk looked like it had, had a dump truck load of turds spread over it.
I was exhausted when it was all said and done but grateful it went as well as it did.. Could have been a nightmare.. Thanks to Craig, Harvey , the cops and all the residents who helped and were gracious about the whole thing.
The reason they got out in the first place? Human error.. I forgot to connect one section of netting to the next and so it was not electrified and goats being goats, they figured it out.. DOH!!
So the mean value of houses here is no less than half a million and it goes up from there. This neighborhood has houses perched on a hillside with green spans between each row of houses heading up the mountain. We use the goats to clear said green spans as they are very steep and not safe for equipment or people for that matte,r to mow. Goats work GREAT!! Let me also say that all these houses have immaculate yards and gardens.
Now, with all that in mind consider the horror I felt when I checked on the herd only to find NO HERD!. It is a long skinny stretch and I cannot see from one end to the other. As I ever more quickly walk the length of it, I realize that it is indeed one of my worst nightmares come true..
At the far end I see people milling about in the street. This is kind of odd behavior here so I suspect they have seen the goats who have instituted a freedom march to greener pastures. I yell down, because they are far away."Are my goats down there?" No response comes back? I yell again "Have you seen my goats? Nothing.. I yell one more time actually I scream "ARE MY GOATS DOWN THERE!!!!!!?" Finally I get a response "YA, They went that a way!" "They are in the woods now"
Oh Super duper I think to myself. Actually, those are not the words I was thinking but you get my drift. They also say that they have called the cops and I am like oh GREAT!!
AT this point I run for my truck because we have to go a couple of blocks to get to where they were last seen. As we approach there are people and kids wandering about smiling and laughing and there is a trail of goat poop all over the road and sidewalks and yards but nary a goat in sight. "Where are they?" I ask.."Oh they are back in the woods and down by the pond below the houses now" I walk around to the huge basin which is the pond following the bread crumbs (goat turds) and sure enough there they were darting about in grand ADD goat fashion.. I get on my phone to Craig the other Goat guy working up here with me.. "Craig , my goats are all out I need you and Harvey, NOW!!" He says he will be right there"
I had left Pearl my herding dog down where my travel trailer was staged because I was just "going to check on the goats" "surely there will be no need for Pearl" WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Instead I had brought my new dog Rye who is barely trained and in training so we could have someone one on one time together.. So there I was with an entire herd on a walk about and no dog I could use to get them back in. Hence my need for Harvey Craig's dog.
While I was waiting for his and the Cops arrival I thought to myself, "how the hell am I going to get them back into their pen?" Now, with goats you always have to think of every conceivable thing they might do and be prepared for their tricky moves. In my wisdom and experience I decided to make a chute of netting from the end of the block up to their pen. I quickly recruited the residents to help by holding the fencing up. My Plan to run them up the middle of the street and keep them from scattering into peoples yards with the fencing.. I probably had 20 people and cops as they had just arrived, holding up the fencing. I decided to try to use Rye for even a little help. I put her on her long lead and we headed out to the pond area to await Craig and Harvey.. I got to the pond and save for about 3 goats no others were visible.. WTF? One of the residents who was gleefully watching the drama from his balcony said "they are over there beyond that hill, you can't see them from down there" "where?" I say, "Waaaaaaayyyyy down there" he says.. Sure enough on a very distant hill I see some specs which are indeed my goats.. "Holy Crap" I think.. "They are like a quarter mile away down by the baseball fields.." I call Craig to find out his ETA.. "I am almost there" he says.. I think, "good because much longer and they will be in Europe"
Craig and Harvey finally arrived and by now I was sweating bullets. I had him head down to retrieve the herd. Luckily Craig is not a gimp like I am so it was no big deal for him to head out cross county. It would have taken me like a year to get there with my bad knees.
Within a few minutes a wave of goats began running up over the hill and toward me and Rye. My thought was then "I hope they turn the corner here and run behind the houses and not go into the woods". I decided to go stand at the turn point with Rye on lead and hope they turned and didn't scatter. I yelled to the waiting fence holders "They are coming be ready!
The wave soon arrived and I was elated when they not only made the turn but slowed and moved forward at a trot and not a full gallop toward the awaiting goat chute. Rye and I followed the first wave to keep them moving to their pen and not stopping to munch on peoples ornate gardens.. Rye did great! Even though she is barely started in training she was able to keep them moving. She even endured a couple of head butts in the process, undaunted.
As is usual there were a couple of stragglers who were giving Harvey a hard time and trying to stand their ground. They came a couple at a time and before long we had most of them back in. Craig appeared carrying one small straggler because, well sometimes it is just easier to carry a goat then to herd it..
Finally everyone was back in and it was then time to say thank you to all who were" honorary goat wranglers" and start cleaning up.. Not a small task I might add because by then the street and sidewalk looked like it had, had a dump truck load of turds spread over it.
I was exhausted when it was all said and done but grateful it went as well as it did.. Could have been a nightmare.. Thanks to Craig, Harvey , the cops and all the residents who helped and were gracious about the whole thing.
The reason they got out in the first place? Human error.. I forgot to connect one section of netting to the next and so it was not electrified and goats being goats, they figured it out.. DOH!!
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