Is It True What They Say About Sheep and Goats?

Eliza

There is a common belief in western culture that sheep are good and goats are bad.  Many religious sermons discuss separating the sheep from the goats (and the goats aren’t on the good side) and even in popular culture, goats are portrayed less wholesome than their ovine counterparts.  To be sheepish is to be shy, timid, and meek.

From my experience, this is absolutely true.  Not to say that goats are evil and sheep are heavenly, but that there is a definite vein of mischievousness that runs through the goat that my sheep seem to lack.  Don’t get me wrong, sheep can get into their fair share of trouble, but they somehow seem more innocent.

Eliza and Brie, my two Nigerian Dwarf Goats, are indeed devilish.  It is almost as if they are continually plotting against me.  Not to my demise, but how they might rob me (or any other animal) of some grain.  They watch for me to make a mistake.  Leaving the gate ajar, or not putting a heavy object on top of a food bin, or leaving the house door open are all opportunities to these little goats to get into trouble.  Although Brie is the herd leader, she is nowhere as naughty as Eliza.  Eliza sits, pretending to sleep, and as soon as you turn your back, she is on it to nibble an ear.  Eliza can also clear a four foot fence without too much trouble.  In fact, she is proud of her abilities to escape.  Once out, she has her routine of going from animal feeder to animal feeder hoping to find something to nibble on.  On many occasion, I have found her inside a large trash can eating some chicken or alpaca feed.  Thankfully I catch her in time that she doesn’t  get sick, but left to her own devices, she would gorge until she were sick.

Kit and Kaboodle on the other hand are sweet and loving.  They enjoy being petted and receiving loving attention.  They wait until the gate is opened for them to come out and once out, they seem content to look for things in the yard to nibble on.  They don’t try and steal other animals’ food.

The goats run along side of me or in front of me when I walk through the yard.  The sheep always follow behind.  If the sheep are eating something that the goats either didn’t realize was there or were too slow to get a mouthful of, they get butted in the stomach by the goats.  In fact, the goats don’t just butt the sheep when the sheep are eating, they will take every opportunity to ram into the sheep.  Thankfully, the sheep can hold their own, but they never start a fight.

Despite their differences, one being naughty, the other being nice, I love both the sheep and the goats.  They are a ton of fun.  There are sheep people and there are goat people, I am a little of both.  But then again, aren’t we all?