Today was GOATS.   

 

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this morning, Giving Water to the Buck Goats,  i see this.

 

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a Diamond web.   a sign.

Today,  the Other vet.  they call it a Ranch call.    He was late,  but he arrived and he arrived WITH A GOOD AND STURDY YOUNG WOMAN VET TECH!!!!!!!!!!!!!   oh hooray and Tra La…   When i had stopped there on Tuesday to make the appointment and speak with him,  i underlined the fact that Magic is a Strong and Headstrong Goat.  No lightweight, her.   So…here they were.   i  brought them through the house,  out the back door so They would know they were "house people".   They however gathered in an arc,  staring.  Still.  gathered,  staring and still.  So we just stood there for a while,  watching them,  i'd given them their evening grasshay early.  They went back to eating,  but the minute i said Magic's name and walked toward her…….no Fooling them….something was UP.

but she didn't run and i got her collar and they moved in.   She began trying to get away and i put my body behind her while hanging onto the collar,  they arranged their stuff and at some point he told the Tech to straddle her.   Long story short as i can,  he marked the cut with a small saw,  enough to hold the thin blade of the Gigli Saw,  my body is at her rear so she can't move back,  she is rearing and yelling,  her tongue hanging out,  making those horrible huffing sounds Goats make,  expelling burts of air,  and the Vet begins to saw,  just a few seconds,  and half way through,  the whole Scur pops off.   Just like the last time with Barbara's scur.   A little blood.  not much.  and we let her go.   They gather up their stuff and leave.  

There is maybe an hour of …… of,   what?.   an hour of UnSureNess.  Much movement.  Much headbutting.   Comotion.  No one eats.  They just mill around.   a Lot of vocalization.  and i sat on the porch and watched.  For sure,  now,  it's Onday that is the Alpha Goat.  Snowbunny,  the Matriarch has deferred to her daughter Onday.   For a while,  Onday follows Magic.  There is no overt behaviors.  All she has to do is look in Magic's direction and Magic moves.   As time goes by,  it eases.  Magic is allowed to eat,  unlike Barbara,  who was kept away for 3 days.   I think this is because of Magic's standing in the Herd.  She is a strong Goat.   But i don't really know.

and just before the rain storm,  i took advantage of all the ify feelings out there and filled my pockets with peanuts (in the shell)  and had the wisdom to use the moment in a good way.  i called the name of each Goat,  clearly, with direct eye contact and when that Goat came forward through the throng,  i gave the peanut with a closed hand to mouth and said the sound that the Mustang Woman taught me…the sharp !D!.   Over and over,  each Goat,  each name, !D!Peanut!   until  everyone had several chances,  including Magic,  Magic 4 times, !D!.

so we survived another Event.  and i understand more and more that it's how it is.  and all there is is  Just Going.  Doing what needs to be done.  We Just Go.

 

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you can see where the cut was Supposed to be

 

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and stitching….well,  only this one worm.  There will be many.

 

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and this one bird.  There will be many.

 

This.  

Querencia:

"The word doesn't translate.  It is used in Spanish to designate that mysterious little area in the bullring that catches the fancy of the fighting bull when he charges in.  He imagines it his santuary.  when parked there, he supposes he cannot be hurt…..So it is,  borrowing the term,  that one can speak of one's "querencia" to mean that little,  unspecified area in life's areana where one feels safe, serene."

William F. Buckley     Racing Through Paradise

 

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18 responses to “ranchito?…what can we call this place? anyway, ranchito day….as in little ranch day?”

  1. Jan Avatar
    Jan

    you are so calm with them. . .I know it raises anxiety in you as well, but you are their constant. and over time. . .over more of these ‘unusual events’ they are learning to trust your constancy. to ride the wave of being stirred up and then drawing down again. returning to what feels safe. glad there was time for cloth as well. love,

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  2. grace Avatar

    we learn. we teach Eachother to, yes, ride that wave. In it’s own way, it’s really quite Grand. if there were some other choice. but there wasn’t. and so, we Went. we just did. and we stand on the Other Side of it tonight. Storm has passed and i went out again
    and they come, in their own time, they come. and We Are. period.
    We Are. Tomorrow will be a new day.
    and yes. one worm. one bird. but…Enough for this one day.

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  3. Mo Crow Avatar

    good news and that is a beautiful word – querencia… I remember the word querido as a term of endearment when we lived in Peru in the 60’s & mariposa butterfly funny thing memory…

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  4. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    U are good at telling a tale. very–but, i’m wondering why the scur popped off like that? Do you know? Would it have made any difference to have had one of them hold it at the base while the cut was being made? I just wonder.
    I love the bird and the worm–but the bird best. Love thinking about many of them.
    I’m in my ‘safe’ spot too now.

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  5. dee Avatar

    the diamond looks like knit-mohair lace! the tale of goat-care does what most of the tales of the goats do — impress upon me the nature of your attention, show up the gifts that they give you, and how wild the drama is that they bring into your ranchito!
    Or should I say, querencia?

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  6. handstories Avatar

    the web and the bird- such small strands & steps that make such “somethings”- just like your care & steps with your goats.

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  7. beth Avatar

    That diamond! I can’t stop looking at that. The special meaning of that shape for you. And the worm. Life is bursting forth here right now. I think I could see 100 different bugs in walking 10 feet. And just going with the hard things. A peanut reward. I hope you had a couple peanuts too.

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  8. patricia Avatar

    the web–a god’s eye

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  9. grace Avatar

    Spanish is a beautiful language.
    and chipkali…lizard…from learning Hindi for Peace Corps

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  10. grace Avatar

    well…there were no extra hands, for one. all were
    holding Magic still, or as still as we could manage….very much against her WILL, again, she is a STRONG Goat.
    A lot of things factor in. the first being that a scur is
    not a “normal horn” which is most like bone. through and
    through. Scurs are often almost hollow, with only some of
    the nerves and horn cells intact, as was the case with this
    one. but enough so it continues to grow. As in the case of
    Sunny Ray, Cinderella and Nogal. but theirs are not curling down and inward, like Magics and Barbaras. Both
    of theirs were at the point of that hollow of skull between eye and ear. if you feel your own skull, you can feel this place. if left, would create pressure on the
    eyeball. you would think that once the horn made contact
    with the skull it would quit growing. not. and so.
    This is all avoided in the beginning by successful disbudding.
    SO. now what? both Barbara’s and Magic’s scurs will grow
    again. it takes months. but, nothing to do but repeat
    the Event. UNLESS i can desensitize them to having their
    horns fooled with and periodically clip off the very ends
    with say the tool i use to trim hooves. just a little at
    a time. like an eight of an inch. a little, Often.
    If i were a person who has a Working Dairy Herd, these
    Goats would be gotten rid of. like killed. or, as
    a woman Jenny knew, given to the zoo for the lions.
    They would only be kept if they were great milkers. anything less, they would be “more trouble than they’re worth”. Magic has never been bred. i have no idea what she’s like as a Dairy Goat. She’s going on 3. Barbara
    did kid and threw 2 bucks. Milked ok. but that is only
    an ok because i am not a proficient milker. She might
    be great.
    so, that’s kind of a round about answer to your question.
    yes. maybe it could have gone better. but that would have meant that there needed to be FOUR people doing it and that’s just not going to happen.
    i love the worms as much as the birds.

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  11. grace Avatar

    it’s kind of a querencia, i guess.
    i am becoming more and more uhhhh, hmmmmm, adjusted.
    more adjusted to the reality of living with livestock.
    so different than dogs and cats.
    they maintain their sense of Wildness. They do not
    Obey., Goats. They will comply, but according to their
    own sense of things. Even horses are more compliant.
    But who said it?…Goats are the only non domesticated
    domestic animals. and here we are. Me and Them.

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  12. grace Avatar

    such “somethings”. yes. that’s exactly what it all is.

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  13. grace Avatar

    i wish a peanut would do it for me

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  14. grace Avatar

    it is, isn’t it. it really is.

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  15. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    Damn it’s SO serious this task you’ve taken on, and hard too. I knew that from the cumulative posts over time, but now know more. I do love understanding more. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

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  16. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    Ha–wouldn’t that be easy! No such thing.

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  17. dee Avatar

    reading about the goats’ untameability and wildness helps me understand my sister, who is a Capricorn, and difficult. I wish peanuts would do it for me, too.

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  18. Nancy Avatar

    The colors of the scur so go with the colors of the earth in the cloth below. Love the way you do birds, so much.
    That web is really something! I could sit an look for a long time.
    Thank you for this new word. I am always looking for my safe spot.

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