Tethered Wether

This morning I cracked my eyes open to see that it was in fact light outside and then pulled on some sweats to go let the little goaties out of the barn. I gave them the obligatory pat on the back, scratch behind the ears, and a promise of return once my own kids had been fed breakfast. I promptly slid back under the covers and snuggled up to Hannah Banana. Joe walks in all dressed for work and says, “Skyla, why do I hear goat sounds coming from the street?” We looked out and there was Wether, the longest legged pygmy goat known to man, running down the street back towards home. Where had he been? How did he get out? We just spent the last week finding his escape routes and sealing them off.

I threw on my UGGs and ran out to grab him. Much to my surprise, he was happy to see me and didn’t try to make a break for it. I hugged him, picked him up and placed him back within the chain link fenced area. Before I could turn my back he had lept right back over the fence with complete ease and grace.

Sadly, for now he must be tethered until we figure out what to do about this situation. But there was a sunny spot in all of this. It came when our neighbor, Mrs. Murray, came out to meet me at the barn with a big ole smile on her face. What she proceeded to tell me about our Wether man kept us both in stitches for quite a while. The story goes as follows…

Mrs. Murray woke up and opened her blinds to let in the sun when the cries of our goats caught her attention. When she looked out to see if anything was wrong she saw a jogger being shadowed on the other side of the fence by Wether, who has an affinity for chasing joggers back and forth as they pass. But this time, as the jogger continued past the point that Wether could follow he jumped right over and kept following. The jogger stopped for a moment, surprised at her new running companion, and looked puzzled as to what to do. Mrs. Murray says that he jogger tried to put him back in the fence but couldn’t get the gate open. After a moment she decided that he wasn’t worth the trouble and she jogged on. Maybe that’s where he was coming back from when I found him on the street.

I can only imaging being a jogger who suddenly finds herself trailed by someone’s goat. I’m giggling just typing the story. Mrs. Murray said she stood there quite a while deciding what to do. She knew exactly where he came from, but when she couldn’t get him back in she just jogged on. Had it been me, I would probably have at least knocked on the door, but she had already lost enough time. I wonder how far he trailed her before he came home. I think tomorrow I might just let him off his leash for that window of time and watch to see what happens. Mrs. Murray says she’s keeping he camera handy so she can make some money off of a video of my little jogger stalking goat!