Miss Mary, Hardly Contrary

The first Tennessee Fainting goat and first doeling of the season was born last week to Gwen, our fainter herd queen. The delivery took me by surprise. Even though Gwen's midsection had been rounding down, the thought had not occurred to me that she would be delivering anytime soon. Gwen delivered her kid while out in the back pastures and the dogs were there to clean up any mess she might have left, so she was able to introduce me to her already-dried and scampering kid when we met in the driveway by the barn at dinner time.

The temperature had become warmer during the days, but still freezing at night, so the pair was promptly settled into a barn stall with a heat lamp. Gwen is a responsible and experienced mother, so after witnessing the kid nurse, I let them be for the night.

The next female name we had in line for use was Mary, for the wonderful, bright, and energetic woman by that name whom we know from New England. Married to Walter (whose name was used for our first buckling of the year), the warm, nurturing, no-nonsense Mary is also mother to our dear friend Judy (whose name was used for the alpaca cria born to Myfawny, a.k.a. Van, last fall--Judith TwilightStar). All of the members if this family have been very good to us over the years and are treasures in our hearts.

By making our animals their namesakes we are sure to think of the human name-donators frequently and with pleasure. 'Tis true that over time the connection will fade as each animal grows to assume a personality with the name, but still every so often (if not daily, at least weekly) the connection will surface and I'll take a moment to remember the human at one point or another via a snapshot from my memory bank. I'm very glad we chose to name some of our animals this way because it keeps what could be a lost connection alive in my heart.

Gwen's little Mary is a delightful, bouncy kid--a far cry from Gwen's last kid Raymond, who was born in a freezing-cold barn and even after spending a week in our laundry room under a heat lamp, was slow to gain his walking legs. Plus, while Raymond was a full fainter, Mary's sire is BullyBob our Nigerian Dwarf buck. It's from him that she got her blue eyes and the little pendants at the top of her neck which we call "goat jewelry." Like the original, our Mary is vibrant and has a definite spring in her step. She's curious, always eager to learn more about the world around her--tasting my boots and jeans, trying to fit her head through the sheep-and-goat panel squares separating her from the young male alpacas, and dancing from corner to corner of her restricted stall space.

Our little Miss Mary is a delightful gal, hardly contrary except when I pick her up and hold her too long away from her mother. When that happens, she exhibits lung power worthy of a future trombone player. She's quite cute, our little Mary Packer.