Wrangling Goats

We survived our first week of shelter in place due to the COVID 19 pandemic order. As a mental health provider, my work is considered essential so, as they say, the show must go on. The agency I work for quickly set up systems for our staff to work from home and provide services to our youth and families through virtual and phone platforms. So, I’ve been working from home all week and Mark has had his usual routine mixed up due to that fact. I have taken over spots in the kitchen and office; ordering him to stay out so that my work can be conducted confidentially and without interruption. This, though, has not been our biggest challenge this week. We have a herd of seven goats on part of our property. They are so cute and fun and serve the purpose of keeping down the vegetation in a part that is difficult to mow. Both Mark and I are new to having goats and it’s been both fun and costly at times. This is another one of those “are we crazy to take this on now?” experiences of living in the country. This week the biggest and oldest male, Olaf, has been trying our patience to say the least. Olaf in short, is an asshole and I say that in the most loving way. He’s the first one to ram at the others and is always working to establish dominance. He is also the one to completely not understand the “shelter in place” directive. Twice this week, he has gotten out of our pasture and ventured to the neighboring field. Olaf has gotten out before but it’s been a long time and why now we just don’t know. When he gets out, we know it, the other six start making so much noise that they can be heard through out the countryside. We are not sure if they are upset that he’s out or if they are telling on him. Trying to get him is quite a chore. It takes both of us! This morning we went to get him, goat treats in hand along with a dog leash. It’s a bit of a cat and mouse game as we try to lure him in with the treats, get close enough to grab him, and put the dog leash on his collar. This morning when we went to get him, we discovered that his collar was no longer on his neck so putting the leash on was more difficult than usual. I imagine we were quite a sight, if anyone was watching. Trying to carefully corral this damn goat who very clearly fancies himself superior to all, offering treats that he is turning his nose up to and escaping all of our attempts to grab him. In a stroke of luck, I was able to tackle him, all the while landing in a blackberry bush. As I’m tackling, Mark is grabbing his horns, so that I can get up and put the leash on him. Once we have him, he is very dramatically making choking and gagging sounds from the leash around his neck (he was actually quite fine) and dropping to his knees at every opportunity. Finally, I was able to lead him out of the field, down the road and back into our pasture. The rest of the herd noisily welcoming him back. Olaf’s defiance to staying put, in the safe space of his pasture with his herd is understandable. I think through this shelter in place, we all have felt a bit like Olaf. I know for me, at least at first, thoughts of “I don’t want the government to tell me what to do” crossed my mind more than once. We, though, do not have the luxury of being selfish like Olaf. We have to stay in our pasture for the safety and well being of others. But I will say, having to spend some time wrangling goats has broken up some of the mundane of the shelter in place.