# Wandering at night



## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

In the past I have had to tie two or more goats at night to keep them from wandering. This time I thought I'd let them go.

Just got back from Cat Canyon near the Utah-Nevada border. While I was awake they were all right there. But when I woke up, they were all gone. 

So I used my boatswain's whistle and could hear a distant call back. It was a narrow canyon and we were near the mouth so I followed it in the general direction of the call but figured they would go for height. They don't like to stay in the bottom of narrow canyons. Sure enough they had gone around the corner and up over the top. It was only five minutes to find them. 

Browse was sparse so they naturally walked to find what they could.

The second night they didn't go anywhere. We camped in a grassy valley at the top end of the canyon. There was plenty of browse so they didn't wander off.

It's a bit risky to not tie them but I am interested in learning their behavior and working with it. Tying them is my least favorite option. It appears that the wander lust is more just a browse behavior. 

Reinterpreting my first experience with them, where I had to tie each one in order of succession, it may have been the same thing then.


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## jross (Dec 20, 2008)

My goats have been threatened by dogs several times. In each case they found that sticking close to me, and me chasing the dogs off, saved their butts. So they never wander very far from me any more. 50 yards is a long way for them. Your goats may not have ever been scared and had you come to their rescue, maybe that's why they wander so far away. One thing I always do when I am camped out with my goats is to put a bell on one or two of them. That way I can hear where they are and maybe the bell, being such an unnatural sound, will keep predators away. I sure don't want my goats wandering very far away at night. That's when predators are most active.

Do you have a dominant goat? Maybe you could high line him and the others would stay close to him.


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## ryorkies (May 4, 2010)

I seem to remember Rex saying he lost some goats when he did not tie them at night. Never did find them.

I play hide and seek with mine on walks. If I can walk out of site
I duck behind a bush or tree. It is fun to watch them run past me
then stop and look around. "which way did she go, which way did she go?" 
After that they stick closer, for a while that is. The Nigerian (not bottle raised) accually gets more upset than the wethers.


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## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

ryorkies said:


> I seem to remember Rex saying he lost some goats when he did not tie them at night. Never did find them.


I have never personally lost goats at camp but the Forest Service lost two of our goats during a summer rental period. I looked for them several times but never found them. Bad mosquitoes, predators near camp and severe weather all cause me to tie my goats at night. Other wise they are free to roam the area and are never very far in the morning.


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## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

Rex said:


> ryorkies said:
> 
> 
> > I seem to remember Rex saying he lost some goats when he did not tie them at night. Never did find them.
> ...


Were they the small tender ones? ;-) I have known some Forest Service contractors.


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## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

No, these goats would have been tough eating. They were older and trail tough.


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## Bwana Ken (May 9, 2011)

> I have never personally lost goats at camp but the Forest Service lost two of our goats during a summer rental period. I looked for them several times but never found them.


Rex - when and where did those goats get lost?

My wife told me that about 10 years ago she and her ex were doing some pre-season scouting in early fall near the boundary of the Frank Church Wilderness about 10-15 miles from the semi-ghost town of Warren (Idaho county).

They were driving on a road in a remote area way back in the mountains, far from any human habitation, when they came around a corner and saw a large goat standing by the side of the road! She doesn't remember the goat's color, but said it was a large goat and looked healthy. It was wearing a collar and she thinks (but isn't positive) it had horns. She said the goat wasn't afraid of them and just stood there bleating/baa-ing at them.

They considered trying to bring it home with them but they had no way to transport such a large animal and no where to keep it once they got it home, so they just drove off and left it. They thought about reporting it to someone, but had no idea who to even tell about it.


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## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

It was about 10 years ago but it was in the Gospel Hump area in Idaho. Just outside Grangeville. I spent a couple of weeks looking for them and found tracks up high but never found the goats.


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