A goat drama

So, you may have read, we live on a small farm. We own a dog, three cats, and two goats. The goats (one Boer and one Pygmy) live happily in a pen and have the run of most the bottom half of the barn. Blue and Dandy are best buds, and Blue in particular is very friendly and loves to be petted.

The other day, I decided to tether Blue out so he could eat grass outside of the pen. He hasn't been out much, so he was a bit skiddish but I thought he would be okay. He was a little edgy, but he quickly focused in on eating the yummy weeds.

A few minutes later however, the kids came running around the barn, and scared the hookey out of the animal. By the time I rounded the corner as well, all I saw was the leash flying up in the air, and landing on the ground with no goat on the end. Lincoln yelled, "Mommy, he's in the barn!" At first I was relieved, but that quickly turned to fear. I entered the barn only to see Blue run up the loft stairs, which is an unfinished second level that opens to the lower level where the goats stay with no rails. All I could see was him taking a nose dive off the edge and making a splat on the ground.

At that point I went into survival mode. I yelled at the kids to back up so I could sneak up on Blue and hopefully prevent a catastrophe. I regret now being so angry with them, but in the moment I was operating out of sheer terror that this goat was going to jump to his death. Kids, I'm sorry!

Seriously, this loft is a disaster waiting to happen, and trust me I know it needs some work. For now it's blocked off temporarily-but back to the story.

I had him down almost the whole way twice, but the first time the kids scared him back up and then the dog scared him a second time. After again begging everyone to please back up and get the heck out of here, I finally was able to get the collar back around his neck, dragged him down the stairs, and said a thank you to God when he finally trotted back into his pen.

I always said I wanted more animals, but with stories like this I am not so sure anymore!