Here she is! Such a beauty too! We had a wild time with her though. After Cyndi brought her, we were getting her pen set up with food, water, etc.. Jason was at the back fence talking to our neighbor and I was putting a bucket of water into her pen. As I reached over and unlatched the gate to come out, I heard a noice and turned just in time to see June bolt towards the gate. Before I could even take a breath, she hit that gate with her horns and was gone! We hadn't closed the front gates yet, so she just shot out into the neighborhood. She'd been there for maybe 30 minutes and already was on the loose. I raced to the front, my runner husband past me up very quickly and hopped in the van. He went off down the street to see if he could see her. It was just about dusk, so we didn't have alot of time before the sun would be all the way down. Our neighbors ran off towards the woods and soon I heard Brent yelling that he'd found her. Jason came back up the street and I pointed him in the right direction. After that the girls and I waited.
I felt really badly for the girls. They were so scared that she'd be gone forever. Alot of tears and poor little Xiola, who claimed June as her own, kept hanging on the fence sobbing, "Come home June.." If you've ever seen a 2 year old truly sad, it is heart-breaking. So I had the girls come in and started their shower. I told them that Jason would be back with June before they could even get done bathing. Lola was really sad, she thought it was her fault because she was trying to put the lock back on the gate when it all happened. I explained that she was no way to blame, that there was nothing anyone could have done to stop June. About that time I thought I heard our car so went out to check. It was almost dark and I just kept hoping that Jason would be back soon. It was him! He had her safely in the van. Whew! We got her back in the pen, after closing ALL the gates before getting her out of the van. Then Jason went in and told the girls the good news. Xiola leaped out of the shower and wanted to go see June right then and there! So we did..:)
Jason said that Brent had corralled her in a neighbor's yard and kept up with her when she got out and ran further down the road. He, his friends and Jason all ended up running her into the slough where she couldn't get out. Jason put the leash on her and lifted her carefully out and into the van. She was pretty tired when she got back, the whole adventure was about 40 minutes so could have been worse. It really taught the girls about keeping the gates closed at all times though! Jason said that when he was talking to our neighbor, another friend showed up at Brent's with a dog and the dog spooked June. That's when she bolted. I couldn't have stopped her. All was well and we really did learn about what great neighbors we have! Jason took a bunch of beer down there for them and I'm baking some fresh bread today to give them. We are also going to give a couple jars of pickles to the neighbor's whose yards the guys just ran straight through. I guess they took a few of them by surprise! HAHA But we don't have to announce to the neighbor's that we have a goat now! HAHA
Certainly learned a valuable lesson last night. Today June is fine. Let the kids pet her through the fence and seems fairly content in her new surroundings. Once she's used to it and happy here, we can let her out into the general yard while we are out there. We'll give her a couple weeks though!
Her babies are due in about 6-8 weeks. She's slightly taller than the average Nigerian Dwarf Goat. I guess her brother is pretty tall as well. Cyndi told us if she gets too lonely before the babies arrive, then she'll let us hold onto June's bro for company. So far she seems fine. Is really interested in the kids actually. Also, another fact we learned but didn't know: Cyndi explained to us that these goats are strict vegetarians. Will not eat anything that is a meat product, including eggs! She said if we run out of feed, she will not eat cat food but will eat chicken food. HA! I'm sure we'll be learning even more as time goes on! Oh the adventures we are going to have!
