When the best plans are interrupted . . . and all’s well that ends well
Life on the ranch with goats means interruptions are the norm, not the exception. Last Wednesday we were looking forward to heading into Spokane for a nice lunch and pinochle game with family. And then a phone call came.
Our herd of 15 bucks and wethers, led by Schwartz - the big guy in the photos below - had gone walkabout. They were working at a neighbor's place at the intersection of Waukon Road and Fancher Road, reducing fine fire fuels and weeds. They had a new pen with plenty of feed in it, and no reason to leave but apparently while roughhousing they knocked over a post in the electric netting and one of them, probably Schwartz, decided to find out what else was available.
Schwartz, the senior buck of 2026
Goats are always sure we're holding back on the good stuff and too curious for their own good. We humans changed out of going to town clothes and prepared for, hoping for, a roundup.
We spent a couple of hours Wednesday afternoon searching through the forest (Craig and Oakley) and along the roads (me). Craig and Oakley collected a herd of ticks, and I met more neighbors along Fancher Road into Spokane County. Decided the goats were bedded down in the heat of the afternoon and we headed back to the ranch for a very late lunch. Craig and Oakley went out again as sunset approached hoping the groups might be easier to spot if they were up and moving. He could rule out where they hadn't been (no poop), but otherwise deer and goats leave similar signs and tracking was fruitless both times.
We put out a note on the community Facebook page asking if anyone in the vicinity of Waukon spotted these miscreants moseying along the road, through a field or maybe bedded down in their garden or fields (sorry about that) to call or text and we’d bring Oakley over to round them up.
Craig continued to search for the next two days. And then on Saturday afternoon, the meandering goats were spotted by a neighbor hanging out in his alfalfa field a good three miles south of where they started out, taking advantage of trees in a little eyebrow out area for shade to bed down between browsing. Got the call while at the Harrington Vintage Fair, where the trailer was already hooked up to the pickup and the timing was perfect!
We'd already broken down the booth and all the accoutrements but hadn't loaded the trailer yet. We loaded only the big fishing booth board into the trailer, my friends took responsibility for all the smaller items and I left to meet Craig at the field, dropping the booth off at the school on the way.
Craig set up a funnel of netting to gìve Oakley a big target for his assignment, and Oakley and Craig worked as a team to bring the goats down off the hill and into the trailer. The two senior bucks, Schwartz and his Wingman, hung back. Oakley dug in with a second effort and the last two were persuaded into the trailer with tempting grape vine trimmings fortuitously picked up from Mom on Friday.
And so . . . all's well that ends well!
Good work, Oakley!