Goat Fur & Calisthenics

See what looks like cotton in the picture above? It's goat fur. Poor Arlene is losing her winter coat, and it's itchy. I had no idea that goats would beg to be petted just like dogs. We sat down at the bench, and Arlene came up and nudged my hand with her head. I started pulling her fur out, and she stood quietly and blissfully for me. I toss the fur to the winds, figuring that the birds can use it for nice, soft nests.

Here's Arlene with fur stuck to one of her horns. She's holding her head like that so I can scratch between her horns and behind her ears. Never thought I'd be able to read goat body language! (Of course, most goat body language revolves around some version of 'do you have food for me' but then my husband tells me my body language does too.)



Then she settled off to the side to do some complicated cleansing rituals. I'm very relieved to report that a goat can bite its own toenails, just like a cat can.



I'm relieved about that because otherwise I'd have to clip them for her. You may have noticed the horns? She's a very sweet goat, but any of you who have clipped a cat's claws before can imagine what the procedure would be like with a goat.



I learned from a friend to wrap the cats in a towel to clip their claws. I just had a mental image of my wrapping the goats in a huge beach towel to do their nails.

Once again, I really am so very glad we have a private back yard. Not that I'd actually do it, of course, but hmmm...I wonder if it would work?