Grab a bag of hay or popcorn, it's movie time!
If you watch the short video below, you can see what happens every time I let Rufus out with the goats. He chases them! I can tell he is enjoying himself, kicking up his heels and stretching his muscles, but the goats don't seem like they are enjoying it as much as he is. I've been told by several people, none of which have any experience with donkeys or goats, that if I would just let them be together more, Rufus would probably calm down. I'm working on it, but I read enough stories of donkeys accidentally hurting or killing goats during play that it makes me nervous. Maybe for now, I'll only let them be in the pasture together when I'm there to intervene if Rufus gets carried away.
Now that the weather is cooler, the dogs and I have fun running on the outside of the fence and enticing Rufus to run with us. Most of the time he does a short dash from one corner of the pasture to the other, with his head low and his ears back, but on this day, he really got into the spirit of things and ran around and around while he brayed his little heart out. When he would stop near me, I would shout Boo!, and then run away and he would take off in another direction. I was panting from running and laughing, but I managed to get my camera rolling and at least catch the end of his funny jog.
Light River loves to rub his head on my hand. I think he has an itchy forehead, but I also think he enjoys pushing me around a little. Luckily he has a beard that I can tug on when he gets so involved in his itching he forgets to give me a break!
After years of crawling through jungles of invasive bush honeysuckle shrubs for my job, and fighting this exotic shrub on restoration sites and in my flower beds, it gives me great pleasure to watch my goats munch away on the leaves and branches. They like it so much, and it stays green for so long, that I've found myself appreciating this tenacious plant in a way I never have. It's good goat forage! Watch Peaches munch.
Rufus doesn't speak English, but he communicates very well. In this video, he is saying, Let Me Out! This was the first day that the tarp was hanging on the north wall to block the wind. He's used to it now, but wasn't a fan of the flapping noise at first and wanted me to know that he was not happy being trapped with a scary tarp.
Like I said, I like to watch them eat. Enjoy this short home movie of Light River enjoying his hay.
It amazes me that the goats can eat thorns. Peaches loves black berry leaves, which is great since we have lots. She will even eat the entire end of the plant, thorns and all. She will also eat multiflora rose, poison ivy, trumpet creeper, and Japanese honeysuckle vines.
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