Fossil Hunting with Goats

I've known where a few fossils are on the property. For the fun of it, I decided to take the goats on a walk while I had my camera and photograph them. They're all in the same kind of limestone-like rock, and all spiral shells. The limestone makes up most of the rocks around us, with a scattering of a pink flecked granite.

I find rocks and fossil hunting fun. With these fossils, I have made no attempt to remove them from the rocks they rest in. Given how easily the limestone fractures apart, I am concerned any effort to remove them would damage them if the rock cleaves through the fossil. So in the rock they stay.

This is one of the more weathered fossils, exposed to the elements for a while. Small, but very clear. Because Suzie always wants to ear the camera, she was in my face as I was attempting to get a close picture!  

 This one is in a rock that has been more recently exposed. It is about an inch across. 

Almost too tiny to notice! A cute little shell which is barely more than a shadow in the stone.  

 

Because it was in the way, my Dad scooped up a big slab of stone in his tractor bucket. Little did he know that this beauty was hiding underneath. I found it a while after the stone was put in a new, out of the way place. And this is a BIG fossil, almost four inches across! Again, Suzie's hooves appear as she tried to chew on the camera!

Fall Walk

With winter fast approaching, my goats and I took advantage of a lovely fall day. We took a great walk! The cold nights have already zapped life from a great deal of the greenery, but the girls found plenty to nibble on nonetheless.

On the trail

Suzie is a little short compared to the grass, hah! 

Yoko fairs a bit better when it comes to grass height 

Of course, we had to make our way to the boulder that makes for some fun goat pictures. Goats can't resist jumping up on something bigger than themselves! My neighbor told me they found that rock back when he was a young boy. Apparently the tractor they had wasn't strong enough to pull it from its resting place, so they hitched a team of horses to the tractor for extra oomph! And so the boulder was removed from its original, inconvenient location, and now rests out of the way of farm equipment.

Yoko first. She was so pleased with herself, being up nice and high! 

 Suzie was much more modest about her climbing. Also, Yoko likes shoving her off the boulder.

She has grown so much!

 The instant after this silly picture was taken, she sprang off the rock like a little mountain goat!

Beautiful and majestic!

I think Yoko was displeased since Suzie had been using her back as a chin rest. 

Nomming nommy grass

Soon enough, snow will be on the ground! I am looking forward to the winter, I just hope that it isn't too harsh a winter. Last year we had it easy though, not much snow and temperatures were not too bitter. I am sure Mother Nature will make up for it eventually!

Yep, He's in Rut

Love is a frustrating thing. Though I think what my buck experiences is more lust driven by his raging goatie hormones. It makes for some hilarious moments, though I do feel badly for the poor lad, that he is so lovesick and yet cannot find satisfation!

No, he has to wait a little while longer. With help of the AGS Goat Gestation Calculator (set to mini sized goats), I am not letting George and Yoko have a date until a bit later. A lot of breeders do have kids born in the winter, because parasites and coccidia are not a problem. But there is the chance of inclement and bitter cold weather. Though I have built some nice goat sized stalls in the outbuilding/hay storage area/tractor house, for kidding time.

Anyway, here are some silly pictures of George!

Rather than egg on his face, he has fur on his face

Yoko in heat teasing poor Georgie. She is quite the trollop when it is her time!

Plus, you can hear the noises he makes, all the snorting and meeping! 

Big flehmen response!

And a bit of tongue waggling

Trying to...hoof her?

More good smells

His eyes are just so funny when he does this

Hurr durr, I'ma goat

And lastly, frustration. Taken out on the boy haus in progress.

Little Visitors

I know of a lot of people out there are frightened by snakes. I, however, love snakes. I find them very awesome and fascinating critters. And they have a very valuable purpose in the ecosystem, so even though they may be 'gross' or 'scary' to some people, they shouldn't be harmed. If you don't like snakes, and stumble upon one on a hike, please just let it be, go around or turn back. I have personally sidestepped a lazy rattlesnake sunning itself when I was hiking in South Dakota I wish I'd taken a picture! Sadly, too many people out there would have gladly bashed in the rattlesnake's head, out of panic and fear, even without the snake showing any aggression.

Anyway, I took some pictures of snakes I've stumbled across on the property. Like I said, I really like them. I handle them long enough to take a few pictures, then let them go where I found them.

Pretty and flashy!

This is a juvenile Northern Red Bellied Snake (Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata). This little guy was tiny. Thinner than a #2 pencil. Probably a very new hatchling. If you see the snake from the top, it is quite unremarkable. But flip them over, and you can see why they are so named! The red orange on their bellies is almost neon!

The snakes eat snails, slugs, and other soft invertebrates, so they are very beneficial to gardener by helping take care of a pesky slug infestation. Full grown specimens top out a 16 inches, with most staying much smaller. They're hardly a threat to people, with very small jaws and tiny teeth. They may try and defend themselves with a foul smelling musk from their cloaca.

 Smile!

Rawr! I tiny and scary! 

Next up is a little snake most everyone knows about, the garter snake. In this case, this is an Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis). A very fetching snake, with their almost checkboard patterning.

Garter snakes are also zero threat to humans. And boy, when they're caught they do excrete copius amounts of musk! Even if they try and chew on you, they don't leave much of a mark at all. They relish eating small amphibians, invertebrates, and the occasional mouse (for the larger specimens who can catch them). These guys are survivors though. They can be found just about everywhere, so at least they aren't in danger of being wiped out.

Look!

The last snake to be featured is the Western Fox Snake (Elaphe vulpina), also known as a Pine Snake locally. This snake is gorgeous. The pattern on the belly is so pretty. 

This snake has a hard time because it looks like snakes who might be venemous. The adult's head darkens to a rich, copper color. And people immediately think "copperhead!" and bash in this harmless snake. The blochy color pattern also, for some reason, screams "dangerous!". Yes, other venomous snakes do have this patterning, but they either A: do not occur in Michigan, or B: rare and considered a species of concern (this is the massasauga rattlesnake, who is incredibly shy and would rather flee than bite, so bites do not happen very often). 

So you can see how this species of snake has it rough. And in fact, they are great to have around your farm or home. Why? They LOVE eating rodents. Rodents are their favorite food item. I'd much rather have a few of these snakes floating around than mice trying to get into the house or animal feed (though I do keep it up in metal cans). 

So snakes. They're unique, and a benefit to you and your land. I understand if you don't like them, but even if you don't, they would rather not bother you, a big scary predator.

Sadness Here at Yooper Goats

Today I write a post that breaks my heart. At 2:30am on September 29th, 2012, I lost Dulce de Leche. She crossed over the rainbow bridge in my arms. I tried everything in my power to make sure she stayed with us, but it was not enough.

Dulce de Leche came down with a case of frothy bloat. The link provided about it explains it how it applies to beef cattle. However, because goats are ruminants, the cause and effect are the same.

When I first noticed her acting strange, not so bouncy and happy, slightly bloaty, I did what I could to make her get rid of the gas, relieve the pressure. Giving her baking soda, rubbing her sides, and walking her only relieved a little pressure. And I could not get a hold of the vet who lives five minutes away. So I got on the phone with a livestock vet on call with a clinic an hour away. I packed up Dulce de Leche to meet her at the clinic. There, Dulce was tubed (which is when the bloat type became obvious), her rumen cleaned out, and she was given both bloat release and mineral oil. The vet was actually quite confident Dulce would be fine, because she was very alert and curious.

I got her home and settled her in a stall. By this time, she was exhausted. But at 2am, the bloating returned with a vengeance. I tried so hard to relieve the pressure, but she suddenly went limp in my arms, she stopped breathing. I did CPR on my little girl, until my mother came with a stethoscope. No heartbeat. My Dulce was gone.

This year has been a crushing year with goats. Both the girls I got from Aletha of Happy Tailz Farm are gone. I feel a crushing guilt, because those precious girls should have had a very long and awesome life with me. But instead, I have to report they are gone.

Suzie and Yoko are still confused as to where their friend went. My father, who is visiting, was kind enough to bury Dulce for me. Before he did, I wanted to let the other goat girls see her, sniff her. You know, in case they understood their herdmate was dead. I think it helped.

So yea, pretty miserable past few days, because I miss my darling Dulce so much. But I need to stay strong for the others. Artie and George, Yoko and Suzie. It feels like a piece of my heart is missing though.

Here are the pictures I uploaded from my camera. The last taken of Dulce. I'd taken her and Suzie for a walk to some sandbar willow on the property. Sandbar willow grows shrubby and brushy, not tall and treelike. And goats sure do love to nibble on it, especially the bark. They are pictures of her as happy, healthy goat, how I hope to remember her, rather than her on that awful night as I tried to breathe life back into her.

She was getting so big!