I know that y’all know that Pippin is very jealous of our goats. Personally, I find it hilarious, and since I keep thinking about this incident, I thought I’d share it with y’all…
A few years back, when we had our “baby crop”, as we call our herd of goat kids, we were letting all our goats into the back yard to eat things. Don’t get me wrong, they had close supervision. There were many bushes and things that were off limits, and the goats were not allowed to eat them. We were doing this during a drought, because our back yard (which is a full acre) was watered every week, and it was growing much better then the pasture. Those of you who have read Pippin’s Page on the rescue site (in my links) will remember that my Mom mentioned; “He herds the animals when asked & protects certain plants when the goats are loose.”, direct quote. Well, it was during the back yard goat dinners that he did that. It was very humourous! We laughed at him, and cheered him on gaily. I think he was pleased with his power, being so little he doesn’t get to be the boss very often, not to mention the fact that he got to be the center of attention at the same time!
But, sadly, he was not the center of attention all the time. Like I said, this was while we still had a baby crop, and they were old enough that they were eating too a little. They were (and are, though no longer babies!) so cute, that it was a joy to watch them and make sure they ate nothing wrong. My Mom had the priviledge at the moment. They were over at the side of the house, and on the house were some scraggly creepers that really needed to be cut down anyway. So my Mom let the babies nibble on that, smiling at them, and telling them how cute they were, and all that. Not that I blame her. I’ve yet to see anyone who could take one glance at a goat kid and not say “How cute!”, and I am no exeption. ; ) Anyway, Pippin came wandering up. The goats were being well behaved, his services were not needed, he was bored, and he was feeling unappreciated, and jealous.
“Those great big mooses are getting all my people’s attention, and even though they’re naughty, and clumsy, ugly, and brainless, for some alien reason, they’re getting petted, talked to, cooed over, and all that nonsense. Now why don’t they do that to me? I’m an excelent helper, graceful, handsome and very, very smart. So then, what can I do to get them to look at me also? I’m cute too, you know!” His thoughts were displayed by his actions. First, he walked over to my Mom, reared up, and put his paws on her, stretching luxuriously. That is one of his ways of begging for notice, and hopefully a stroke on the head to boot. But my Mom told him “down”, and didn’t pet him. He got down obediently, but was still determined to show that he was every bit as cute as a goat. He turned around and eyed the kids resentfully. My Mom paid him no more heed. But, the next thing she knew, Pippin was amongst the kids, reaching up and gingerly pulling leaves off the vine! He pulled them off, tossed his head a little (just like the goats did), and then dropped it (which the goats did not do). Then he plucked another leaf, and pretended to eat it, then dropped it on the ground! My Mom was laughing, and yes, she told Pippin he was cute too. I guess he was. rofl!
To this day, if she talks about that incident, she will still laugh, and frankly so do I. I only wish that I was there to see it too… Life is so not fair, isn’t it?
