MEComposing

One of the really stupidly cruel things I can do to myself: accidentally lose pictures I haven't saved or properly uploaded yet.

Hay. I selected the pics and clicked CUT... then proceeded to create the folder where I was transferring them. Then I forgot to PASTE them and hit DELETE button instead. I was able to save some pics but I lost A LOT. Worse, the deleted pics didn't end up in the recycle bin (could be because I deleted them from the SD card). Howell. Depression.

*~*

I've honestly never been really mali-mali but the weekend saw me making one blunder after another... losing money, wounding myself, forgetting things, etc.

Hay, don't tell me it's a sign of pregnancy! Grrr... Talk about low moments.

*~*

Anyway, hubby and I found ourselves tavelling with his family to San Juan again. His expat cousins with their kids were all there. His sister's in-laws also came with us. It was an afternoon of food, chit chat, drool and noise indeed.

Anyway, as we were at a Goat farm, it's only logical to 'enjoy' the goats with the kids. The goats are pastured all day and then rounded up in the afternoon. The farm's caretaker would round them up, and line them up, and then let them charge back to their pens. This is a treat the kids really delight in as they (we) all gather near the pens' entrance and watch the dirt road suddenly get dusty as the goats charge to THEIR OWN pens. (pictures to be posted tom)

Yes, it's very easy to train them, or so i've noticed. What's even more delightful is they have their own sense of territory. Not only do they know which pen they should return to, but the kids (young goats) who get lost and enter the wrong pen get booted out... or rather, hoofed out. :) Goats push them out. And when a kid feels it can't find the right pen, it will bleat... and an answering bleat from its Mom will guide it to the right pen.

And of course, for us humans, the bleats all sound alike so it's amazing how goats actually communicate :)

*~*

Young goats are called KIDS. Male goats are called RAMS or BILLYS. Female goats are called DOES or NANNYS.

Young sheep are called LAMB. Male sheep are called RAMS. female sheep are called EWE.

For other terminologies, click here.

*~*

One of the RAM sheeps was temperamental. He was picking a fight, and was being rejected by the other sheep (the vet and owner were transferring him from pen to pen, hoping he'd calm down). We've been asked to go to the end of the pen so we won't get hurt (the pen has 6 other mini pens, one pen is around 70 sq. meters big, i think) when unbeknownst to me, one of The Good Sons from our crowd is already meeting the charging, unhappy ram. I thought JRA's uncle would suffer from a heart attack there and then, and went leaping on top of the ram to restrain it. Poor Tito Robert got too scared to really shout or get angry, and I manhandled the resisting boy back to safety.

Actually, goats and sheep are usually gentle creatures. They get nervous when humans make noise. They panic when kids around them panic. They start running when they feel threatened. And it doesn't take much to threaten them.

The boy wouldn't have been hurt the way matadors are hurt by raging bulls. But a ram does have horns. And we're talking of Australian sheeps that are bigger than 5-year olds. They're heavy, they have hooves, and they can just frighten you enough to lead you wounding yourself with the bamboo fences.

Honestly, I believe it's stressful for the goats to have human visitors... esply kids. But like what I said, the kids love them! Even girls who are into Paris Hilton will pet and carry them and try their might to smile for the camera (hay, remember pics I lost here), this despite their fear of the kids, and despite the kids' bleating cries in fear of them.

*~*

Tito Robert was explaining to Tita Baby that male goats MARK their female partners, and the rampaging ram was actually manifesting some superiority complex and reminding the other goats that an ewe was his. Having other male goats interested in his ewe will upset him. Usually, marking a female ewe means rubbing off a male's scent on her (pheromones?)... and this tells the otehr rams that she's now off limits to them.

One of the girls, Sarah (from Oz), told the vet to explain to her what her grandpa was saying. The vet was having a hard time communicating well in English so I did the explaining for her. I actually felt weird describing mating dances with a child but oh well. The vet made a comment (in Filipino/Tagalog) about how the same is true for humans and we both laughed. The girl then said:

"Did she just say something mean about me? Why are you both laughing?"

Surprised that she had this inner paranoid going for her, I still immediately set her right. She then went:

"Oh yes, you really can't be with someone else's wife, otherwise you'd be sent to jail. Unless you're from here (meaning the Philippines), where you can just go to another province."

And she said that matter-of-factly.

*~*

Sarah's Mom was holding JRA's baby niece in her arms. Sarah's older sis was around (because she was trying to get away from wasps) and I asked her if she wants another sibling.

She said:

"I'd love to have a boy in the house. Anotehr sister would be too annoying."

*~*

But these girls are actually very warm and nice. Totally lovable, unlike my own nieces and nephews from Australia (then again, maybe their parents, my cousins, brought them up to feel they're friggin' superior than those who live in the Philippines).

*~*

Again, interested parties can inquire from rca061180 @ yahoo.com (spaces are just so he won't get spammed). Pure-blood (ooohhh, Harry Potter comes to mind) goats/sheep can cost as much as P45,000 per goat. Buyers usually buy two goats (who'd act as studs) because brother/sister goats don't really mate (or can't actually reproduce together) and need another set to mate with. That's basically how you start your own goat farm.

Goats usually give birth to a maximum of two, and the rare occasion where a third kid comes out produces problems for the caretakers (where will the 3rd kid nurse? a goat has only a set of two teats)

Their clients include Chavit Singson and Manny Villar.

*~*

I'm still real sad about losing the pics. But am still delayed so there's something to look forward to.

Besides, I have the warm memories of a loving family spending an afternoon together.