Archive for the ‘Goat Love’ Category
GoatSpotting: Snow Goat
I spotted this adorable snow goat on a Facebook friend’s page:
Snow Goat in Spindale, NC, home of Spindale Dairy Goat Festival
As you can see in the caption, this snow goat was made by Sun Painter in Spindale, NC, home of Spindale Dairy Goat Festival. Here are some highlights from last year’s festival and parade:
If you’re in the area, be sure to check it out, and tell them Michelle at Goat Berries sent you!
And remember if you spot any goats out and about, send them in for GoatSpotting!
Goats Singing Christmas Carols
Greta the singing goat
Well you’ve seen baby goats bouncing around to the tune of Jingle Bells, so you had to figure this wasn’t too far behind.
St. Helen’s Farm in Seaton Ross, England have started up a singing competition among their goats after workers realized that the goats produced more milk when listening to Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You.
The three goats competing for top honors were Greta, Gertrude, and Gladys — with Greta coming out on top with over 50% of the online vote.
Even though the competition is over, you can still be your own judge. Check out Greta’s winning rendition of Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Gladys’ Silent Night, and Gertrude’s Oh Come All Ye Faithful at the St. Helen’s Farm YouTube channel (or right at the dairy’s website) and then come back here and let us know:
Who do you think has the best, ahem, voice?
Keeping Goats Warm in the Winter
As some of you may know from my Facebook updates, we are currently experiencing a bit of SNOW here in southern Italy.
Snow on the prickly pear cactus
Although snow is par-for-the-winter-course in the deep mountains of Calabria (we have several ski resorts), it’s not nearly as common here in my village, which is about 250 meters above sea level and a 10-minute winding drive away from the Ionian Sea.
Badolato in the snow
Calabrian hills "in bianco"
I’m in my eighth winter here, and this is maybe the third time I remember even a dusting in the village itself, so this is quite an exciting time for this girl who comes from the mountains of Pennsylvania.
Our mandarin tree under the snow
But what about the goats? This is the first time they’ve ever seen snow.
Who the heck put this stuff out there?
In fact, it normally doesn’t drop below freezing very often here, so I was a little worried about keeping them warm. Paolo assured me that they’ll be fine in their winter coats and *excellent* shelter he built, which is completely covered and protected from wind and moisture, but what can I say? As you know, I’m a worrywart goat maaaa….
Goat snow day!
So I read up a bit and found out that it’s good to give them some warm water (or hot if you’re mixing with cold) so they’ll have a little treat — kind of like us coming inside for hot cocoa — and also plenty of great hay to keep their rumens working and their body heat flowing.
La neve!
Indeed when I checked on them this morning, they looked just fine, but I gave them some good rubdown kind of petties just to increase that blood flow all the more. You can never be too careful with the goaties.
View from the goat pen
Which is why I’m about to head back over there with more warm water, fresh hay, and, of course, petties.
OK, and maybe an old blanket or two….
P.S. See more of my snowy pics over at Flickr.
Goat Information from Heifer International
Heifer International is a wonderful organization that strives to end world hunger with charity gifts for for sustainability and self-reliance.
Read on...Check out the Goat Cam at Goats Live!
No, Pasqualina and Pinta aren’t the latest goat film stars — I just wanted to let you know about a 24/7 goat cam over at Goats Live.
There you can check out Nick and Molly, two mini-Saanens, who have been viewed over 50,000 times from 87 countries around the world. There are actually two cameras on them, so you’re sure to capture all the action.
Nick and Molly when they were just wee kids courtesy of Goats Live
You may also catch a glimpse of humans Debbie, a former TV personality in the Tampa Bay area; her husband Sparrow, a former broadcast engineer now retired because of multiple sclerosis; and their adult son Hilary who has autism. Debbie and Sparrow are both retired, and aside from their goat hobby, also dabble in ham radio.
Anyone who has watched goats for even five minutes knows just how much fun it can be to see them in action, so this is especially great for those of you who don’t have goats of your own — yet.
Yes, yet. I firmly believe there are two kinds of people in this world: goat caretakers and future goat caretakers. Their powers are just too strong to resist forever.
Colbert Names Goats as Scapegoats for Unemployment Rate
We’ve talked about goats cleaning up the Vanderbilt Estate and also about some hardworking Goat Busters in Virginia, and now Stephen Colbert has caught on to the trend. Check out this *hilarious* report on those who have “gone goat”:
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| People Destroying America- Goats Steal Landscaping Jobs | ||||
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And yes, goat berries (the real thing, not this site) play quite a role in the story!
This isn’t the first time Colbert has singled out goats on his show, either. Back when the George Clooney film The Men Who Stare at Goats was coming out, he did another ridiculously funny bit about the power of the goat:
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Goat Lab – Jon Ronson | ||||
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It certainly seems like Colbert has a soft spot in his heart for goaties…and who could blame him? Come to the other side Stephen . . . the pasture is fine!
Sponsor the Old Goats of Apifera!
GoatSpotting!
Goats that readers have spotted out and about. Send your photos to michelle(at)goatberries(dot)com!
