My goats are not the most cooperative animals.  Most of the time, they act like a three year old having a temper tantrum.  Except, they’re stronger, quicker and much more sure-footed, which makes them an extremely worthy opponent.

Normally, this time of year, they would already be tucked away in the warm barn for the winter. But with the spring-like temperatures we’ve been having, they’ve enjoyed being outside. However, Mother Nature decided it was time to let winter begin and sent a snow storm that quickly morphed into a mess, covering everything with a thick layer of ice and shutting down the main road by my house.

Knowing time was of the essence, I threw on my boots and trudged up to the goat pen with a scoop full of feed, expecting the usual goat rodeo to commence shortly.  Much to my surprise, they decided to cooperate and were standing by the fence ready to be moved into the barn.

Only problem was, in my hast to beat the storm, I forgot to shut off the power to the fence.  Now, I’ve been brought to my knees several times by the electric fence – one would think shutting it off would be the FIRST thing I would do before attempting to move animals.  But alas… no.

So, there I was, standing in the sleet on one side of the fence, wet goats on the other and 5,000 volts of electricity in between.  I leaned forward, grabbed one goat by the neck and ZAP!  Before I knew it, I was on my back and the goats were on the wrong side of the fence.  Seems I completed a nice electrical circuit that went from the fence, through me and right to the goat.

I laid there dazed and confused for a few seconds, until panic set in – the goats were loose and I was the only one around.  I quickly scraped up the feed that went flying and tried to entice the goats closer so I could get the leads around their necks.  Low and behold, they walked right over – a look of pity on their faces.

As we all gently trotted toward the barn, I swear I could hear them talking to each other.

“Can you believe that dimwit?”

“You’d think she’d learn by now!  She obviously hasn’t been trained very well.”

“And they say humans are the superior species.”

“Einstein.”