Goat Hunt 2010

This year, Nate drew out for a once-in-a-lifetime goat hunt on Willard Peak by our house. He took me and the kids there a few weeks ago to scout out the goats, which were everywhere, and the hike wasn't too bad, so I decided to go along hoping to get some good goat photos. Nate's friend Mat and his brother Andy also came along.

It was so rainy and foggy we couldn't see much, and some us us are not equipped for outdoor activities (me) so I was sloshing around in soaking wet sneakers and drenched Levis the entire time. But as long as we were hiking I stayed warm at least. And Nate gave me his army poncho so at least my upper half was dry. After a few hours I was wondering why I ever agreed to go along because I hate being cold and wet and falling down hills and rocks. Twice we had to sit under trees waiting for the rain to let up. But then just as we were about to head back to the truck, we found some goats.

This one posed for me so perfectly, but it was so foggy I was afraid none of the pictures would turn out. If it was clear, you could have seen the view of the whole valley off to the right. But I think the fog looks kinda cool too.

As I was taking pictures, Nate was getting ready to shoot. I was standing behind him when he shot, and it was so loud, I felt it hammer my chest. I couldn't tell which one he shot at first.

The second after he shot, the fog started to lift and I could have gotten some great pictures, except that all the goats were gone. This would be a good picture if the goat wasn't bleeding all over the place out her nose.

The saddest thing was when these 3 little baby goats hung around crying for their mom. I had thought about this already, and I thought I was prepared for one baby to be orphaned, but 3?!? And just look at the sad looks on their little goat faces! I almost cried, but I knew Andy would make fun of me, so I held it in.

Proof that I was there! The goat looks so much smaller than she did up on the cliffs!

Nate carried his goat all the way down the mountain, climbing down rocky cliffs and over trees. If I had known he could do that, I would have made him carry me up!

Here little skunky, skunky, skunky

Several weeks ago, as Nate was getting ready for work one morning, he heard the chickens outside making a huge racket. It was still dark outside (5am) and they never usually make a peep until after sunup, so he knew something was wrong. I was in the kitchen packing lunches and was a little shocked to see him go flying outside wearing nothing but a towel around his waist yelling that some animal was trying to kill the chickens. When he got outside, he could see something standing by the chicken coop, but he couldn't tell what it was because he had left his glasses in the house. (At least he remembered to grab a towel!) So he scared it away and as it ran up past the back door, I saw that it was a skunk. It ran back down past Nate and into the night, and it's a really good thing it didn't spray him because I was fully prepared to lock all the doors (towel or no towel) and pass him some tomato juice through the window. Ever since that day, he has been setting up his animal trap out by the chicken coop every night. He was so excited the day he found he had caught the skunk...until he realized that he had to figure out a way to get the skunk out of the cage...without getting sprayed...

So his brother Andy came over, and they snuck up really slowly with the garbage can tipped on it's side, and with some long sticks they scooted the skunk cage into the garbage can, shut the lid, and ran. They were sooo lucky, the skunk didn't spray until after the lid was shut. I was up on the porch with my camera, expecting them to get sprayed. Once again, I was prepared to run inside and lock the doors. But the whole thing was pretty uneventful. They went back later and tipped the garbage can up, and filled it with water to drown the skunk.

This is the nasty dead skunk being flipped back into the garbage can for a proper burial.