[osbornk]

I had goats as a kid and I have had them here for 13 years. There are a few problems with goats:

1. You can keep a goat anywhere it wants to be. If it wants to get out of the field, it will always find a way. They love the neighbor's grape vines and they can strip the bark right off an apple tree.

2. They don't eat evenly and they don't eat much regular grass. They would much rather eat the leaves off of briars or trees. They like poison oak and only certain weeds. You also have to feed the suckers in the winter.

3. The get eaten by a lot of things. I just lost a baby one. I suspect it was a coyote or our roaming bald eagle. Dogs like to get them also. That is why I have a donkey. It is supposed to protect goats and sheep from coyotes and dogs but I sometimes wonder.

I got the goats because I have 2 or 3 acres that are so steep I can't mow it even with a 4X4 tractor and a bush hog.

Also, I only mow about three acres of my own. I've been mowing my neighbor's 4 or 5 acres all summer as he takes chemo for Lymphoma. He is married to my sister-in-law so I need him to get well.