Goats! 02-13-10

It was very hazy in the Inland Empire (the media name for the area NWW of LA) on Friday, might have been fog due to the water saturated ground. It also was not as green as it usually is for this annual trip and we did not see any gamboling lambs or colts. But we did see goats. I have noticed in my travels the abundance of goats everywhere I go. Goat milk? Goat cheese? Maybe there is an increase in people who are lactose intolerant, I know I am one, and goat or sheep milk is okay for us.

This was our first view of the goats when we stopped at a traffic signal on the edge of Hemet, CA (about 65 miles from where we live in Orange County, CA.)

We pulled over and walked back to the fence surrounding the goats. As you can tell this is not rural - maybe "early" suburbs. Liz was breaking in her new camera and took a lot of pictures.

A doe and her five brown-headed kids. I looked through a bunch of websites showing different goat breeds, but didn't find any "brown-headed" ones. The closest image was the Boer goat, which has similar coloring and floppy ears. [After Suzanne posted her comment I check out some pictures of Nubian goats and I think that is what these are.] There was a billy goat who chased the goats away from us, from the fence altogether, but he was really upset and we stepped away from the fence lest he try to butt us and damage the fence (or us), so no picture of him.

This was a very friendly doe - she stuck her nose right through the fence and sang us a little song. She didn't seem as afraid of the billy as the other does. I didn't know that goats talk and sing until someone sent me this video some weeks ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5j218ibqL4

They didn't want to pose for us, but went about their goat business as usual.

Best shot of one of the kids. They sure were cute and did kick up their heels a bit. Mostly they were interested in eating the grass.

We saw one small patch of wild mustard, but no other blooming plants or trees (other than those that bloom pretty much all year). Guess the cold and rain have delayed blooming.