Musings

The goats’ real owner came and gave them fresh water this morning.

The troops were happy to see him, even following him when he went back to turn off the spigot.

Goats can go a while on the water they get from the vegetation they eat, so. they don’t drink all that much, but they’re not quite facultative drinkers, like gazelles, which can go much longer. Yet, they don’t drink as often as obligate drinkers, who depend on surface water to stay hydrated. Just some jargon for you, and a bit of info pastoralists have to know.

Posted at 7:38 PM | Comments Off on Goats and water

We made a pre-10am run to Trader José’s while it was relatively calm, before the squadrons of desperate shoppers hit the doors mid-day, then continue in rotation until Monday morning (in our experience, anyway). We discovered that plenty of exercisers visited in the same temporal window…lots of stretchy outfits, etc.

Another goat picture: busy troops.

Posted at 7:05 PM | Comments Off on Neighborhood news

The Kids got all excited when I took the compost out.

Posted at 8:48 PM | Comments Off on Beggars

Welcome to goat world. Note that the last few days the goats have done a bit of excavation.

Also, I read an academic article on knots, as a global cross-cultural technology, presented with more detail than I would have believed possible.

Posted at 7:26 PM | Comments Off on Goats n knots

Can goats be winsome?

Posted at 9:06 PM | Comments Off on Pygmy specimen

Here’re the troops returning to reaping after cud-chewing.

Posted at 8:53 PM | Comments Off on Pastoral rhythm

Our visitors have their own visitors.

Posted at 9:52 PM | Comments Off on Endless loop?

The goats have found a hidey-place behind the “Welcome to Ohio” sign. Doesn’t everyone have large apparently “real” signs decorating their yard?

Posted at 9:41 PM | Comments Off on It’s a sign

This morning we had noisy, busy visitors, feeding on the birch log section that’s atop the stump. They made chunks of the partly rotted wood fly. [Apologies for the screen view.]

I finally, after how many decades—don’t answer, looked up the definition of pileated, and it refers to the tops of mushrooms, alternately called toadstools. To me, the red caps of these large(ish) birds look nothing like fungi.

Posted at 9:35 PM | Comments Off on Pileated pair

I took a morning stroll down to the beach, because: well, it’s there, and pretty, and interesting, and fine. En route, I found a flitting monarch, just where you’d expect it to be.

At the beach, by the dock, I was surprised to see this guy/gal. I’d seen only a few living ones, and the parts I’ve seen (for years?) have been of much smaller specimens. This one was perhaps 15cm, tail to tips of the claws…and those of lovely blue. You don’t see much blue in critters, no?

Posted at 7:09 PM | Comments Off on Were they posing?