The Lonely Goatherd

The area around Spot Pond is so beautiful in the Spring and I am lucky it is in my hometown of Stoneham, Massachusetts. I was at Spot Pond yesterday to receive some training. More about that in a minute.

 The stone building is the John Bothume house, built in 1848 and now a visitor center at the pond.

This is a relaxing area for fishing, boating or hiking.

This man was fishing and he took his little dog with him. The dog just watched from a chair.

Back to the training. I signed up with a friend to feed and water goats by the pond. The goats have a very special job. They are tasked with eating the invasive plants in the area. It will take two weeks.

I have to feed and water the goats two times. I am happy to spend time with them.

I get to pet them and photograph them and there will be several meet and greets for the public to see the goats.

This little girl will feed the goats with her Mom. She was so adorable. She couldn't stop hugging them!

I tried to get a selfie but it wasn't easy. I took this right before I got impaled. Just kidding, the goats are very gentle creatures.

This young man also was a volunteer.

There are four goats in all and we have to do a head count when we take our shift.

They were quite entertaining.

 Here's the group of volunteers.

This one let me pet his beard. Well, I think it was a him. Beards are common on male goats but females can also have them.

This goat had a pink collar. None of the goats had names. I will have to think of some.

 There will be photo opportunities.

I was calling this one the Poser. He was very interested in the camera.

This one was shy.

 There's the Poser striking another pose.

And giving kisses as this woman shows him her selfie.

I like this one, very gentle personality.

I think I interrupted a conversation.

The electric fence is for the goats' protection from predators. We have to disarm it to get into the enclosure and then turn it back on before we leave the grounds.

There's the water station to the left.

And the device that turns the electric fence on and off.

One last parting shot of  the Poser. Don't worry I will be back. In the meantime, I can't get the song 

The Lonely Goatherd out of my head. Do you remember it from The Sound of Music?

Here's the clip.The Lonely Goatherd