Wild goats. Love them or not they've always been a part of my life here in Hunua. Whether it is a glimpse of a lone goat on the side of the road in the gorge or a herd of 30-odd blocking our driveway they're around and probably always will be. I love them. In fact any creature that can fend for itself is admired by me. Who are we to point the finger and say they're destructive and wrecking our native bush....look what we as humans do to this fine world of ours. So, destructive or not I do enjoy seeing these little creatures roaming around. If humans were more resourceful and exercised their right to a carnivorous diet by hunting their meat instead of buying it on plastic trays would we have the problem with goats, possums and rabbits? Food for thought isn't it?
At the moment there's a herd of about 10 magnificent wild goats that are coming over from the army land. A huge billy with impressive horns accompanied by does and kids. They are very inquisitive and Sam managed to get pretty close to them yesterday to take photos. They seem to show up without fail at about 5pm each evening and graze the long grass at our property El Ranchero and our neighbour's too. The kids frolic and play with so much zest for life, oh to be so carefree!
At home our own goats have been creating quite a fuss lately. Lucifer loves to leap onto the bonnet of our cars, of course we tell him off and chase him down but he is a goat and goats to love to be up high. It isn't as if he hasn't got plenty of other places he could play but the cars are his favourite play-things right now. I came home last week after going out to lunch with a friend and as I was collecting my things together in the car Lucifer leapt onto the bonnet and then onto the roof to do a tapdance. In turn I leapt out of the car and grabbed him in mid dance and lifted him off the roof, taking time for a quick cuddle. Then I lowered him to the ground, as he felt the earth beneath his feet he threw his head back, catching his horn on my dangley earring, and took off. My earring half tore, half pulled out of my ear, and in true Heidi fashion I was fine until I saw blood. I had to sit with the pigs and regain my composure, then Sam came home and inspected the damage. Luckily it wasn't torn all the way through the earlobe so I may be able to salvage the piercing. I'd already had visions of sporting the single pirate-style gold earring, to which an eye patch would be an absolute necessity.
Today I went out to let the animals out of their sleeping quarters, all except for the horses who had remained out overnight. The pigs usually have a quick tummy rub and snuggle before wandering off. The goats try to intercept my travels back to the house by cutting me off mid stride, leaping up into the air and galloping sideways endeavoring to convince me that it would be way more fun spending time in the sunshine with them. And don't I know it! On this beautiful morning the goats and pigs followed me up into the paddock while I checked on the horses. Ella was laying in the sunshine with Tarka standing over her. As I reached her, Sheamus went up to her for a sniff, she didn't mind, Tallulah nudged her, she protested with pinned ears but continued to lay there, then Lucifer arrived. He sniffed Ella's bum and leapt onto her rump, I expected Ella to hate this blatant disrespect but she didn't bat an eyelid, as if this happens every day. Lucifer, looking quite smug atop his horse-rump mountain spun around and sprung up kicking his heels into the air. Ella just looked at him, not minding this playing at close quarters, then she rolled a couple of times and got back to her feet. With the whole family complete they wandered off to graze together.
How lucky we are to have such a fabulous four legged family that co-habitate so well. It is these moments of interaction between species that remind me how closed minded we are to think that spoken words are the most effective method of communication. They have a language they use with one another and it is something they all understand. Of course no language will suppress mischievous personalities or boundary pushing exercises (of which Lucifer and Ella are prime examples). I remember how kind Ella was to Tallulah when she arrived as a tiny little piglet with no mum or siblings to keep her company. Ella would 'kiss' Tallulah's back with her nice warm muzzle, she did this often, as a form of comfort. She had a motherly look of concern on her face for this tiny little creature that made such a lot of noise. It was a similar story with the goats who took a long time to gain confidence on the property, they took an instant liking to Tarka....possibly due to his colouring and height and stuck to him like glue, now the goats roam all over the property and they're never far from their Tarka, or God as I'm sure they see him as.
We have a few bunnies back at the farm, they look healthy enough but I wonder if they'll get sick like the others. For the time being they're enjoying interacting with the chooks and one even sneaks up on our neighbour's chick Squirt who we're fostering and plays a game of peek-a-boo. Which Squirt still hasn't grasped the concept of and suffers a small moment of heart failure with every BOO.
Last week we spent a small fortune on fencing rails for our new three-rail pig proof post and rail fence. So far we've fenced the culvert and installed a gate which has become our new front gate. The original entrance has a double gate system , it is quite a handful to co-ordinate the two when it is windy. The new entrance is fantastic, Sam did a stellar job of getting the gudgeons perpendicular which has resulted in a beautifully hung gate. I love the new entrance way.
As the weather becomes more stable and the rain stops falling I look up into the clear sky and think I really am lucky to have such a beautiful home. Now I'm off to buy 22 metres of cord to repair my two broken blinds so that I can let the sun shine in.
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