ramshackle

[asakiyume]

While the ninja girl and I were on an errand yesterday, this goat climbed up onto something in the center of its little prison and called to us with sad-sounding mews. We wished we could take it home with us.

In front of it, empty soda bottles lie collapsed around a traffic cone, on top of which are two inverted plastic cups.



Over on a ways is a discarded Christmas tree, a chair, and baby stroller, and other stuff.



It is one of B-town's more Winter Bone-like corners.

Comments

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Poor Goat :(

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

We really, really wanted to take it home with us :-(

[noachoc.livejournal.com]

That's a very attractive goat.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I think so too.

[xjenavivex.livejournal.com]

poor little sad goat

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Such a sad little voice!

[paulie123.livejournal.com]

I dearly love goats. We had five or six at one time. If I sat in the field where they were grazing, Precious, my particular favourite would sit in my lap and ask for cuddles. And the milk! Delicious.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Five or six! Wonderful. You must have had a fair amount of space.

[paulie123.livejournal.com]

At one time we lived on eight acres of steep Welsh hillside. The land came complete with ruined cottage which we gradually made habitable. Unlike the little one in your photos, our girls had their own shed which, in winter especially, was often cosier than our cottage.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I was imagining what it would be like to have a little goat in the house--they say you can housetrain them!

(But most certainly it would be happier out in fields, provided it had shelter.)

[paulie123.livejournal.com]

That would make for interesting times.

[coldhighmountai.livejournal.com]

It doesn't look like the goat has shelter from the elements.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I wish I could do something--I wish I could do something positive and effective. I don't want to be just a nosy busybody, but I do want the poor thing to be warm and happy. I dunno--maybe the people who own it take it in for the night? But where it is, right now, is behind a defunct business. I didn't think anyone lived there. But maybe they do: there's that huge woodpile, so maybe they're staying in the building as a house--even though it used to be a business.

[sealwhiskers.livejournal.com]

What a depressing place, poor little goat! It doesn't seem quite right to keep an animal in that way...

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I don't mind the disorder so much, but I would like to see the goat have more space to move around, and shelter.

[grayheyes.livejournal.com]

where was this?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Behind that closed fish shop next to the dentist on the common. Or, to put it another way, kitty-corner from the school offices (so right near you guys). We were going to the school offices when we saw it.

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

Poor little fella. He's begging for rescue!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I know -_-

[writeonq.livejournal.com]

Are there any kind of animal laws (and people to enforce them) where you live? I'm not usually one to butt my nose in, but that goat's situation seems a lot less than ideal. (And he is such a gorgeous creature!)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

The thing is, without going onto the property, it's really hard to tell exactly what its situation is (for example, in the video, it doesn't look like it has shelter, but it may have a little lean-to in there. And for all I know, that's just a daytime situation (the way some people leave their dogs out in the daytime), and someone comes and takes the goat into some bigger or better shelter for the night.

But on the other hand, maybe it's every bit as bad as it seems.

I know we have a dog warden in town, but I don't know if we have an animal control person. I'll see if I can find out.

[writeonq.livejournal.com]

It really *is* difficult to tell what kind of situation Mr. Goat is in. I didn't mean to sound all alarmist-y, nor to imply that it's your responsibility to do something. If you do have the inclination to make a call or two, the ASPCA might be able to help. In some areas they deal with more than just cats or dogs.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Thanks--that's a good suggestion.

[desert-sparrow.livejournal.com]

Very sad. He does seem to be asking for help.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I know... I don't want to just leave him to suffer (assuming he's suffering--it may possibly not be as bad as it seems, but then again, it may be every bit as bad as it seems) if there's something I can do for him. I'll look into it.

[rivertumbled.livejournal.com]

i want that goat!
i do agree that you should call and report it. maybe he/she is just fine, but if he/she ISN'T...

poo. i really want that goat!!!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I do too, but am not allowed, where I live :-(

I will look into making sure it's being treated humanely--or getting it someplace where it will be.

[bogwitch64.livejournal.com]

Poor little goat. What a pathetic little bleat!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Like a kitten!

[usha123.livejournal.com]

gosh, the bleating does really get to you :-(

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

And the day I took the video, the little goat was less insistent than the first day we saw it.

[core-opsis.livejournal.com]

That's certainly not what I think of when I think of Western Massachusetts. We just watched Winter's Bone, and the scary part was that it was JUST like some places in the Ozarks near Byron's relatives. We had visited a sawyer who lived in a trailer on a total trash pit, who had two boys named "Boy" (or at least that's all he called them), the younger of which played on piles of refuse, and the older of which who helped him with his sawyering, which was done with a completely jerry-rigged machine.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Lots of rural Massachusetts is lovely, but every rural place I've been to--Adirondacks, northern Vermont, Massachusetts, and then down south too--has places like this, too. Maybe Massachusetts just has fewer of them? There are other places like this in town, though.

How'd you like Winter's Bone? I thought it was fantastic.

[core-opsis.livejournal.com]

I thought it was really fantastic too.... and then Byron gave me the book, which I also very much enjoyed.

I have not seen places like this in rural Wisconsin and Iowa. Both of those states are very very well-kept (at least the parts I've seen) in stark contrast with rural Missouri and rural Kansas, where everything seems run-down and peeling, and there are piles of junk everywhere....

[88greenthumb.livejournal.com]

Oh that pleading, expectant look..."take me, please..."

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

[calenorn.livejournal.com]

ram - shack - le ?!?!?!

(snickers)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

LOL--yep, I was pushing it. Glad you noticed :D

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I do feel sorry for the little goat. :(

We used to keep goats, just as pets, the idea of having a milking goat didn't come to anything. They are very friendly creatures and they need company, preferably another goat, but sheep or cattle or ponies would do.

The problem is, how to urge the owners to do the right thing by their animal without alienating them...?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

That's exactly the route I'm thinking of going. If I can somehow meet them, and ask if I can visit the goat, etc., and then maybe ask them if they'd want to, say, sell it to someone with more space.

The problem is that I myself have nothing to offer, as we're not allowed to keep livestock where I live. Otherwise I **totally** would offer to take the goat myself--though it would still be lonely. Yeah, better to find a place where there are other animals about.

[core-opsis.livejournal.com]

Goats definitely need company. They're good companions for horses and dogs too.....

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wish we could keep it at my house! I'd even build a fence. And I already get hay for the guinea pigs. There are already people breaking the rules by keeping ducks; I wish I had the metaphorical balls to break the rules and have a goat.

[suzan-s.livejournal.com]

That's really sad. I wish the little guy had a nice field to roam around in.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I've been mulling over whether there's a way I could offer to take him for walks. Miniature goats can be trained to walk on a leash.

[salyey-marya.livejournal.com]

i love this post! so much unpolished LIFE!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

very unpolished!

We went back and visited again today. I was too shy (or cowardly? or sensible?), though, either to trespass onto the property or to knock on the door.

But I have a plan: I will try knocking on the door tomorrow, and if no one is there, I will leave a note, asking if it's okay to play with the goat--maybe feed him (or her--probably her) a carrot. I'll leave my phone number, and then they can phone me.

[salyey-marya.livejournal.com]

just take the carrot and go! if it is what these creatures eat. and take your red ball with you, i's sure she likes it!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I'm very timid; people here can be very fierce toward trespassers.

I did take a carrot, though... but she wasn't there. I hope she has been moved to someplace warmer.

[a-soft-world.livejournal.com]

Is that in the center of town near the Methodist church? I used to know very well the people who live there.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Yeah--it's the place behind the dentist. They ran the fish business with the lobster crate out front. Which reminds me--The Blue Tomato finally closed up shop.

[a-soft-world.livejournal.com]

Those people are part of a family down my end that has lots of goats. They're a little strange.

The Blue Tomato hung on for a good long time, my goodness!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

They're a little strange.

Yeah, seyeh had a slightly tricky encounter with them. But I'm glad to know they have other goats--it means that when I couldn't see this one, it was probably back with the others down your way.

Yeah, I guess all things considered the Blue Tomato made a pretty good run of it. Their takeout was delicious.