Finn Catches a Balloon

[Nanno]

The other day on our walk I found a stray balloon in our pasture. I brought it home and showed it to the goats to see what they thought of it. Since I was handing out treats they didn't pay much attention, but I soon realized I'd accidentally "fed" the string to Finn when I was giving him a cookie. He was chomping on the string and kind of eyeing the balloon suspiciously and I facetiously prodded the balloon with my toe to see what would happen. I was not prepared for the explosion which followed! 

[jlkidder]

Nanno, That was great!
My daughter loves the video.

[Taffy]

Poor Finn!  I hope he got over it quickly.

[Nanno]

He was over it as soon as I snagged the balloon out of his mouth. He's such a goober.

I'm still not sure how Finn ended up with the string. It was a complete accident. I was so busy handing out treats I didn't even know which hand was holding the balloon, or that Finn had taken it until I looked over at him and saw him chewing on it contemplatively. But if any goat deserves to "get it", it's Finn. He's a bully about treats and a hog for attention. He's very sweet, but he's also vain as a peacock. He needs a good dose of humility from time to time. Of course, once I realized he had the balloon, I figured he would spook at it but I thought he'd just jump, run a short ways, and the string would break or drop. I didn't think he'd make a complete full-speed circuit of the house!

The funny thing is that I don't think this could happen to another goat. Finn is the only one in my herd with a very weird sense of what's scary, and when he spooks he's extremely dramatic about it. Every Christmas Phil gets on Skype with his parents and goes outside with the iPad so his folks can say "Merry Christmas" to our goats. The goats stare curiously at the iPad, sniff it, then go on about their business. Finn, on the other hand, is terrified of it. As soon as the voices start coming out of that little flat box, he snorts and takes off full-speed with his tail in the air just like in this video. If any other goat had grabbed the balloon, they probably would have snorted, backed up, maybe spun a couple of circles, and then stopped to stare at it. Finn is funny because he only spooks at dumb stuff like this at home. When he's away from home nothing fazes him. What a goofball!