
For the Love of Goats - behoove
https://hedgehogreview.com/issues/the-human-and-the-digital/articles/for-the-love-of-goats
======
GlenTheMachine
We used to keep a mixed flock of goats and Katahdin sheep. We got rid of the
goats. The event that tipped us over the edge was when my wife was on a ladder
trying to fix the gutters on the barn. One of the goats was watching her with
a jaundiced eye. After she got to the top of the ladder and was leaning over
trying to reach the loose gutter, the goat decided that was the perfect time
to butt the ladder - attempted homicide of the shepherd.

But this was just the last event in a long line of offenses. There is a good
reason why sheep are associated with righteousness and goats with wickedness
in the Bible. Sheep treat each other with much more kindness than goats. When
you feed grain to the sheep, the first sheep sees you, baa's, and the rest of
the herd comes running. They jostle each other at the grain feeder but
fundamentally everyone gets to eat. When you feed goats, on the other hand,
the first goat who sees you will try to sneak into the barnyard without making
a sound, the better to eat all the grain herself. If two (or more) goats see
you, they will proceed to fight in order to decide who gets to eat first. They
will do this every single day, without fail, the same fight over and over and
over.

Sheep have a sociality. When it's time to leave the barn in the morning,
everyone lines up single file, with the head ewe in front and the ram, if
there is one, in the very back. The head ewe will take a few steps, stop, look
and smell. Everyone behind her will stop and wait. She'll take a few more
steps and repeat. The ram makes sure nobody gets left behind. Going a hundred
yards into the pasture can take ten minutes.

We never found any sociality in goats. Sheep are members of a tribe. Goats are
the ultimate individuals.

~~~
GuiA
What kind of goats did you have? I have a few friends with Nubians who have
nothing but praise for them, and they’re a breed I contemplate keeping down
the line.

~~~
GlenTheMachine
Boers. Your standard meat goat.

I have been around Nubians. They seem sane.

~~~
ndespres
My nubians (and nubian/alpine crosses) are much more personable and sociable.
I attribute it to the breed being selected for these traits, so that they will
be gentle and docile on the milking stand. They're gentle and sweet.

My boers, on the other hand, don't care much for this type of relationship
with people. They'll swarm you for food, sure, but they seem much more
interested in goats than in people. I don't think any of them particularly
like me.

------
kinleyd
When I was in junior school, a goat (named Billy, of course) used to stay in a
part of a garden which was really steep. One day I happened to stroll in, and
before I knew it, there was Billy between me and the gate. He had the beadiest
little yellow eyes and he proceeded to lower his head and aim is horns at me,
as he accelerated toward me on a narrow ledge. I ran out of fear and before I
knew what was happening, I found I was flying down the steep slope, landing at
the very bottom. I have no idea how nothing happened to me, but that day I
learned first hand about how fear lends you wings. I've never forgotten Billy
(it's now part of our family lore and I even took my daughters to my old
school and the very place all this happened) though I never bore a grudge
against Billy or goats in general.

------
tahoemph999
I have goats and like them. "sweet fermenting odor": This person has never
been around a billy goat. They stink and it sticks around. I like goats as
farm pets. They can be a bit, well, goatly in butting and biting. Goat TV
though rocks.

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ndespres
I have a small herd of goats, mixed between dairy and meat varieties of a few
different breeds. They're great to have around for lawnmowing, milk, and fun.
They are as interesting and expressive as dogs and cats, each with his or her
own personality and distinctive behaviors. They can be troublemakers when they
want, finding any available gap in the fence just to test it, but who doesn't?

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tragomaskhalos
See too the following story of Brenda the attention-seeking goat:

[https://me.me/i/his-quietus-make-i-once-took-my-kids-to-a-
lo...](https://me.me/i/his-quietus-make-i-once-took-my-kids-to-a-local-
farm-f05ddaf29b584411a193e32c25c56d09)

~~~
maxxxxx
When I was a kid we had a horse at a farm where they also had some goats. I
can totally see the Brenda story in those goats. They have a talent for
mischief and are very smart and brave in their own way. Definitely a lot of
fun if you have the space so they can break stuff that’s not important . They
also like to nibble on wallets and shirt. The nicer the better.

------
nkurz
Not to take away from the perfectly adequate linked article, but as a
philosophical musing on keeping goats, it reminded me of the fabulous book
"Goatwalking" by Jim Corbett. It's a hard to describe book that covers a lot
of territory in not too many pages. Here's a review by Mark Schlenze that I
think captures a lot of it:

\---

From the premise that is it possible for individuals with sufficient knowledge
of range-goat husbandry and edible plants to depend only upon a couple of milk
goats for the nourishment and liquid necessary for survival in the desert
wildlands, Jim Corbett draws dramatic implications for the practice of a
viable land ethic and the wholesale restructuring of society upon
communitarian and ecological principles. In the process, Corbett somehow
manages to deliver an intriguing autobiography, detail nuances of desert
survival, challenge and reinterpret Western and Eastern philosophic
traditions, negotiate the convergences of Catholic liberation theology and
Quaker belief, and depict the struggle of the sanctuary movement to assist
political refugees from El Salvador in the 1980s. From pastoral nomadism to
political activism, Corbett explores the possibility of discovering, adopting
and maintaining a right way of being in the world.

Though Larry McMurtry once called Edward Abbey "the Thoreau of the American
West," Jim Corbett may perhaps be more deserving of the title. At any rate,
_Goatwalking_ can certainly be read as a western _Walden_. Corbett's
ruminations upon wilderness and natural history lead as inevitably as those of
the New England sage to thorny issues of ethical judgement and social action.
Corbett, however, even manages to work beyond Thoreau's curmudgeonly
isolationism and symbolic civil disobedience to articulate the dynamic
workings of what he calls the "covenant community" and a process of "civil
initiative" as foundations for healthful identity, revolutionary involvement,
and a right relation with the earth.

 _Goatwalking_ is a difficult book, dense with data, speculation, and moral
imperative. The text defies taxonomy, but one recognizes---among other
interwoven genre---the continuity of the confessional. Corbett's severe self-
scrutiny of a life lived in the demanding and fragile landscapes of the
Sonoran desert and the American Southwest challenges attentive readers into
honest confrontation with the social and ecological contradictions of their
own existence and points to no easy way out. Though the terrain is
treacherous, Corbett is at least a competent, if exacting, guide, and the
example of his personal quest for a peaceable kingdom should serve to inform
and inspire fellow travelers.

[https://muse.jhu.edu/article/532483/pdf](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/532483/pdf)

\---

If you liked the linked article enough to be reading these comments, you
should probably track down and read Goatwalking. It's out of print, and
doesn't seem to be anywhere online, but it's worth it. Buy a used copy or
submit an inter-library loan request. It's one of the best books I've ever
read, and reading it may very well change your life.

~~~
SimonDorfman
Looks like you can buy a PDF for $19 here:
[https://muse.jhu.edu/article/532483/pdf](https://muse.jhu.edu/article/532483/pdf)

~~~
nkurz
I fear that is for just Schlenz's one page review, that I fully typed in
above.

~~~
ghostbrainalpha
That's really expensive for a one page review, even though its very well
written. Something needs to happen to adjust their pricing structure.

Also how much does it delve into liberation theology? That's something I found
interesting at first, but the more I studied the more frustrated I became with
its concepts.

~~~
nkurz
> Also how much does it delve into liberation theology?

Probably not as deeply as you'd want if that is your primary focus. It's a
short book, and much of it is about the goats and the landscape. Corbett
approaches as a Quaker, and my recollection is that he reports on liberation
theology primarily as an outsider working alongside Catholics. This collection
of essays memorializing him might give you a better sense of who he was:
[https://ccc758.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/valleyview_newsle...](https://ccc758.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/valleyview_newsletter_june2017_onlineversion.pdf).

