Semour's First Day Out

It was a day like many other days. The sun was shining, a light breeze was blowing, and the inhabitants of the farm were lazing away another unseasonably nice summer day...until Billy strolled up to the nursery, that is. It seems that Billy, our Boer goat buck, just can't let "sleeping dogs", er, "goats" lie. He has his two women in the pasture with him, but that was not enough. You see, Billy is also in love with Clemmie, Suzy, and Emmie. You should note--Clemmie, Suzy, and Emmie are miniature donkey jennets, and they are in for breeding with their man, Cisco. Billy couldn't stand it.

So, in a midday rescue attempt, Billy smashed the walk-through nursery gate open, and proceeded to find his missing loves. Unfortunately for us, this allowed the nursery dwellers--goat babies, mini mares, sheep, and Seymour--access to the big pasture. You would think that they'd all rush the gate to fly into "freedom", but it didn't quite happen that way. Actually, we're not really sure how or why things ended up as they did, but at around one thirty, we were on our nifty new back deck talking with a visitor, when my husband turned to me and raised the alarm, "Honey, the deer's in the pasture!"

Now for most people who live on a farm, deer in the pasture is a fact of life. It is on our farm, but this was no generic deer. It was Seymour, our Great Deerenees. Seymour is a yearling buck who was rescued at around a day old on June 17, 2008, by our Great Pyrenees dogs, Gianni and Huggy Bear. Seymour has lived in our nursery since then, bonding with the guard dogs and learning all there is to learn about becoming the best darned Great Deerenees he can be. While he could leave us at any moment with an effortless leap into the pasture, he elects to while away his days guarding Abby and Gracie, our 6-month old goat babies.

Upon hearing my husband's words, I raced to the pasture gate leading from our yard. Sure enough, there was Seymour--panicked and desperately searching for a way in. As I neared, I called to him and he stuck his little nose in the crack between the gate and the post. I later learned that our guest leaned over and asked my husband, "Will that deer REALLY come when she calls it?" to which my husband replied, "Just watch." Eager to assist, our son ran to the barn and grabbed a handful of dog food, bringing it to me as I let Seymour into the yard. A few dozen little deer steps later, Seymour was back in the safety of the nursery, his panic subsiding with each passing moment.

I looked around the nursery, and noticed that I had some housekeeping to do while I was there. Billy was lying in front of the nursery barn, as if he belonged there, the two minis from the pasture--Jasper and Lily--were roaming around inside the barn, and Seymour, it seems, was the only escapee. With everyone back in their proper place, I applied a nice chain to secure the gate and went in for a well-deserved shower.

Ahhhhh....life on the farm!