You smell funny and you don't look like me....

Saturday afternoon was the big meet and greet.   Pancho and Lefty knew something was up.  They had spent a great deal of time in the new goat enclosure prior to Bonnie and Clyde's arrival.   We had let them graze in there some to keep the grass down and we let them smell and explore all the stuff we had been building in there.  They have a most curious nature anyway, we felt it only fair to let them explore it.

When we arrived with the goats, I immediately went in and gave Pancho and Lefty some sweet feed.  They never pass up a treat like that.   That bought us enough time without them right over our shoulder to get Bonnie and Clyde out of the truck and into their enclosure.   Suddenly Pancho's ears perked up...  'What's that over there?" I could almost imagine him thinking.   They finished the treat and made a beeline for the goat fence.

Meeting

The noses went down and Pancho tried to put his head over the fence to get a closer look (and smell) things.    (If you notice the later pictures, you will see the extra wire at the top of the fence.  You can thank Pancho for me adding this after the fact.   I had decided we didn't need the wire, but turns out, thanks to 'Curious George' (Pancho) we do.

After a few minutes of skittishness on the part of Bonnie and Clyde, suddenly they were rubbing against the fence and staying right up close while Pancho and Lefty stayed at the fence as well.   It was if they were having a little housewarming party.  (I should note, that we weren't invited to this little affair as Bonnie and Clyde are still a little standoffish from us humans at this point.)

It seems as though adding the goats might even help Pancho with his fear of letting us brush and pet him.   Since their arrival he's been more and more affectionate towards Lori and I.  This morning he even let me pet his nose for about 5 minutes before I put their morning feed down.   Suddenly he snapped to his senses and backed away, but then he came back up close again.   I think there might be hope for him yet.

Lori and I were talking yesterday about what the animals can teach us.   The main thing it seems is patience. Things have to be on their terms and their timeline.  You can't rush it.    If that means I have to sit quietly in the goat enclosure for 2 hours until Bonnie and Clyde realize that I'm OK, then I'll do it.    If that means we have to try to get close to Pancho 100 times before he realizes that we are cool, then we'll do it.   It's all part of living the life that we all need to live.  More simple, and less stressful.

The whole gang (even though Bonnie is photo-bombing)