When we brought Gabe to live at the farm, we were a little worried. He is an angora wether, and, by all accounts, these goats are somewhat atypical in that they're not very hardy, nor are they as outgoing and boisterous as many of the goat breeds. We very quickly learned that he is, in fact, a special goat. While quite fond of people, as a former bottle baby, he nevertheless is extremely cautious and emits a definite aura of quiet wisdom as he seems to evaluate every situation from the back of the crowd. Gabe is almost always the lone goat, quietly sunning himself on a rock, and he is also the greatest escape artist, wiggling through holes and under fences with raccoon-like skill, soundlessly achieving freedom while the other goats jump, batter and climb the barriers with varying degrees of success and a great deal of wasted energy.
Generally he has done well. He isn't terribly sociable with the other critters, but he has carved himself out a niche, all the while growing his gorgeous, soft and shining mohair. He hasn't pined away from loneliness, as he has managed to get a good deal of human attention with his gentle manners and quiet determination.
This past winter, we came across another young angora wether looking for a home. Alvin had been kept as a pet, and had been living with an aging gelding for a while longer than he had ever lived with goat kind. His owner had had a change of circumstances and couldn't spend much time with him anymore, so she was looking for a good forever home.
Goat politics are an interesting thing. Sometimes they remind me of people, but most often, they make me think of cats. Every one of them is fiercely individualistic, and yet, they do form alliances, and friendships between them seem to be very strong, as are the bonds they forge with certain people. We had concerns about introducing Alvin to a goat world which he had never known, and we wondered whether he would be able to cope.
Only having had one angora goat, we had no way of knowing whether Gabe was in fact typical of the breed, despite what we had been told. Alvin seems to be the proof, as, despite being a little older and a little heavier, he pretty much mirrors Gabe's behaviour in every way, except for the escape artist bit, which seeing as there is nothing much to eat beyond the pasture fence, and there is certainly lots of tasty hay to be had within, no-one has much aspired to anyway. We will see, later in the summer.
Meanwhile, the two of them have settled into a steady friendship and go pretty much everywhere together. While they can't be brothers, I wonder sometimes if perhaps they are cousins somehow. I don't exactly know Alvin's pedigree, but it's possible that he comes from the same line as Gabe, seeing as there aren't really that many of his kiind in the province. More likely though, they get along so well because angora goats just like to do certain things in certain ways and having company is a wonderful bonus. At any rate, while Gabe was always a special goat with his loner habits, it is heartwarming to see him with a buddy: two loners, together.
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