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Saturday, August 27, 2016

Bilbo Baggins





Today I offered to help a friend who had seen a loose and lost Goat in Millbury. She had done the research and knew how long it had been out and who it belonged to and got permission from the landowners to try and catch him. 

I hooked up the trailer and loaded my goats and some grain for  bait about 10:30 and on the road.  I  met Erin at a local feed store and she rode with me to the peoples house.   I backed the trailer into their  driveway and Erin got out and told me he was up on their back porch.  The porch had 2 entrances and he was skittish so just about as soon as I unloaded my goats who were quite content to just eat grass on the lawn, he bolted into the woods. I took Kip out and we too my goats down into the woods after him.  He was right on a rock on the edge of a swampy pond.  There was a lot of thick underbrush and I had never asked Kip to work in that stuff. We tried to surround him but he spooked and ran to the other side of the pond.  Erin went around to cut him off and Kip and I approached head on.  He was on a rock basically in the pond. Kip and I held him there while Erin got closer. She grabbed at him and got him but could not hold him. so he ran and I sent Kip for him.  The goat went around the pond again but Kip caught him and turned him back to us. He went back to the rock.

At this point we needed a new plan.  Neither one of us thought to bring rope or halters, but I had some dog leashes in the car and we went and got them all.   We surrounded him again and this time Erin got a leash around his neck and snubbed him to a tree.  Our plan then was to get another rope on him and tie him from tree to tree as we inched towards the yard which was uphill thru woods and across a deep rocky stream bed.

It's hot out and we are sweating our brains out and the buck keeps jumping and running and trying to kill himself.  He was not tame in the least.  2 hrs into this, Erin says how about if I call a vet friend and get them to come and tranquilize him.  I agree and I have the goat snubbed up against a tree very close to a rocky dropoff. If he keeps jumping then he is going to hang himself.  So she goes up to the house to try and get a phone connection.  20 min later the goat and I are getting tired and bored so I attempt to move him myself. He promptly panics and falls over the edge and is hanging himself.  I get him loose and he gets on his feet huffing and puffing.  I try pulling and he comes with me slowly.  Ok , I get it , he is so tired now that I can basically drag him across the stream bed and up the hill. I fall once and he freaks out but I have a hold of him and he WILL NOT GET AWAY.   I am calling for Erin but she is not coming so I keep dragging him.  I get him to the trailer and I sit down to rest. He is at the end of the leash and we are both panting.

Erin comes out of the house at that point and just steps behind him and I drag him into the trailer. SUCCESS!!  Erin was very concerned the homeowners would kick us out if we hurt him.  Well he was not hurt much but they would not have liked the way I had to handle him.

ok loaded and AC on and puppy walked and dogs watered and livestock all watered.  Done  and onto the next adventure. We took him 5miles away to his home.  They were very surprised we caught him. Frankly so am I . We were ready to give up believe me.  Not sure why we continued.  Anyway the farmer gave be a little black doe for picking up his buck.  She is out in the yard now.

BTW    I just took a shower and I can still smell smelly old buck on me.

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