Cuzco's Glamour Shot o' the Day

[Charlie Horse]

I bet if you made some fiberglass reindeer antlers for him, half the people wouldn't know it was really a goat.

[Nanno]

We put up our tree the other day, and I realized I never shared a photo of this ornament or the story behind it:
   

I apologize for the lousy photo. I'll try to explain what's in it. This is a candy cane decorated as a goat. See the little eyes and the brown pipe cleaner horns and ears? This is Cuzco. Phil and I made this ornament at a college Christmas party twelve years ago. It's amazing it's lived this long! Now look behind the candy cane. You'll see it's trailing what's meant to be a tire. What inspired this?

Well, I must go back twelve years to Cuzco's first Christmas and recount a tale of an ignorant goat owner and a determined goat. We didn't own the barn where we boarded Cuzco and my horses, and the feed storage area was inadequate for keeping goats out, being just a section of the barn cordoned off from the rest with what amounted to a post-and-rail fence. Goats are greedy little creatures, and Cuzco became accustomed to helping himself to grain whenever he felt like it. We tried every way we could think of to reinforce the barrier and to lock the grain bin. I tried several different types of trash cans and strapped the lids down in about a hundred different ways. It never took Cuzco long to undo my best work and I would come in to find grain scattered everywhere and Cuzco greeting me with an innocent look on his face. Several times it made him sick and I would find what looked like cow pies spattered all over the barn floor. He eventually learned not to eat so much it upset his tummy, but he still helped himself to more than was good for him.

Finally, in desperation I resorted to The Tire.
   

I found a discarded tire, dug out an old horse halter to use as a harness, and tied the goat to the tire with a piece of rope. My thought was that he wouldn't be able to drag the tire through the fence. Amazingly, it actually worked! But while the tire kept Cuzco out of the grain, it also made him quite miserable, and it was not uncommon for him to get hung up on fence posts and other obstacles. He spent one cold afternoon shivering outdoors because he went under the pasture fence and came back on the wrong side of a post. He stopped going out of the barn with his horse friends because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to get back in. All told l I think the tire lasted about three days. I don't remember how we eventually stopped the raids, but I think we may have simply given up in defeat and quit feeding the horses grain any more.

[Taffy]

I love home made ornaments that have a special meaning to them. Poor Cuzco does not look happy attached to that tire. I'm glad you have a wonderful place for him to roam now.

[nebs]

Meet story. It is also cool to see a pic of Cuzco when he was young.

[Nanno]

You like old photos of Cuzco? Here's another one from his first Christmas when I bought a Radio Flyer wagon and attached some shafts. We broke out the old horse halter again for a harness. I soon learned that this is not a very good way to hitch a goat, but we had fun.
   

And here are some really old photos of Cuzco from when we first got him:

Can you believe those ears?
   

I can't do this any more!
   

Who could resist this cute face?
   
   
   

[Taffy]

He was adorable! His ears were huge! With all that attention when he was young no wonder he turned out to be "Mr. Personality!"

[Nanno]

Yeah, it's just too bad that even with all that attention he still turned out to be Mr. Stink-o in his old age! Every day when I bring the hay, he puffs his hair all up, stands on tippy-toe, and walks next to me in a menacing manner with his horn cocked in my direction. He snarls and makes faces at me the entire way. He always stands down when I get after him, but it's a bit frustrating to have my once-personable goat be such a cranky old fart in his old age. I think he still likes me in his own way, but he sure has a difficult time expressing it!

Still, his "crusty old codger" antics sure put a smile on my face and I know I'm going to miss the old man when he's gone. As cranky as he is, I don't think he really means anything by it except to express his continuing displeasure with having to share his property and his people with other goats. He really hates being relegated to the status of "livestock" and having to live in a pen with other goats instead of enjoying the old cushy life where he got to sleep on the porch and watch us through the windows. The only time he got really cranky back then was when we'd invite friends over or when we would leave overnight. Cuzco always had good porch manners, but any time we left overnight, we would come home to a single big pile of goat berries on the doormat and he wouldn't speak to us for a day or two.

[IdahoNancy]

We will all probably be the same way when we get older. I love baby Cuzo pictures

[deschutes dawn]

Baby Cuzco looks just like my baby Churro! It's amazing the similarity!

[michael]

It's funny how closely bonded goats can get, everyone seems to agree on how opinionated they can be, but a lot of the greater population doesn't see the bonding ability they have. I'm really loving having these truly remarkable animals on our place but I also realize this only works because my daughter puts the time in the goats need. Love hearing the stories about Cuzco.