Did you know that you can rent goats.
I mean, if you’ve been following my blog and you’ve read this post then you know this already. But if you’re new here then – yes, you can RENT GOATS.
Rented goats are, in my opinion, some of the best kind of goats because you get all of the benefits with none of the responsibility. The wonderful, spunky, capable, knowledgeable lady who owns the business (aptly named Goats on the Go) takes care of all the details. She sets up a perimeter fence to keep the goats contained to their area. She delivers the goats. She ensures the goats have proper access to water and shade. And, when the goats are finished with their “job” (aka eating all the vegetation in their area) she loads them back on the trailer and takes them to the next job.
Here they are, shortly after being unloaded into their designated area, happily munching away:
Something important that should be noted is that the electric fence is more of a “suggestion” than an actual barrier for the goats. They could very easily jump right over it. But, as pack animals, they prefer to stick with their buddies. So as long as there is an ample food source within the fence, and all their friends are there, then they really have no need to stray outside the fenced area.
BUT.
Let’s say one or two goats finds an easy way to wander out of the fenced area. And let’s also say that there is still plenty of delicious munchies in this new area.
The other goats will see this, and the next thing you know you have a fence containing a mere 10 goats while the other 20 or so wander around the neighborhood.
I was out running errands when I got a call from one of my neighbors.
“Um, hi, just wanted to let you know the goats got out.”
WONDERFUL. Free-range goats.
So I returned home, hopped in the side-by-side, and motored down to the happy, naughty goats.
My neighbor came over too, to try and help me return the goats to their confinement, and what ensued was nothing short of an Abbott and Costello skit.
I shut off the fence and attempted to create an opening so we could flush the goats back inside.
The goats were not interested. The would run from us if we got too close, but getting them to run in a specific direction was very difficult.
In fact, as we turned off the fence and attempted to create this space, one goat actually jumped OUT of the enclosure.
So far we have just succeeded in having MORE goats outside the desired boundary.
I’ve already put in a call to the owner of the goat rental enterprise, but it’s going to be a little while before she can make it out here, so in the meantime my neighbor and I are thinking we can just fix this little prison break problem, no professional needed.
Spoiler alert: professional needed.
We pretty much just chased the goats in circles around our pond for thirty minutes.
Much chasing.
Still chasing, round and round we go.
You guys we were trying SO HARD but these goats were not in the least intimidated by us.
Below, some of the rule-following goats are stuck inside the fenced area and can’t figure out how to get outside to their buddies and they are SO MAD (sound on for this one):
We finally discovered how the goats got out. The fence was drawn over the top of the drivable berm that contains our pond. However there is a rather large culvert that runs underneath, so the water can pass from the natural stream into the pond itself. (You can see the opening of the culvert inside the fence, in the video above).
The goats just walked on out through the culvert.
But you want to know the funniest part of this entire story?
Well, finally the lady who owns the goat business arrived. She opened the fence a little wider. She walked around behind the goats, using her “mom” voice and clicking at them. The goats, chastened, fell right in line and wandered immediately back inside their enclosure. She secured the fence. The entire process took less than ten minutes.
TL;DR – I am not destined to be a goat herder.
