Gandalf

Gimli

Gandalf and Gimli
Gandalf and Gimli are brothers who were born in August 2002 and who came to live with us here on 15 May 2003. They are Toggenburg goats.

Most goat breeders do not want a preponderance of male goats so these two were both destined for slaughter, despite their endearing characters and good looks! They were seen by two neighbours who could not bear the thought that they were to die and who agreed to take them on as a joint venture. They took them home, had them castrated and proceeded to look after them in turns. All went well until one half of the partnership decided that she no longer wanted to look after goats, which meant the remaining lady was unable to get away on her monthly visits to her family. She telephoned us in great distress to see if we could help and, luckily for all concerned, we had a space at that time.

These two are a pair of real characters who sometimes take a collecting box out to help the funds here. They are difficult for people to resist even when they take their ice creams out of their hands, which they have done on more than one occasion!!

Morris and Sutty
In 2002 we were approached by the wife of a football player who desperately needed to rehome the family's two goats and two pigs, it being untenable for her to look after them at home due to harassment by fans of an opposing team. So Morris, Sutty, George and Dunhill duly arrived to take up residence with us and an utterly charming four they are too.

Morris and Sutty are castrated male Saanen goats. They were both hand reared in the house and they love human company. When they first arrived they were not too keen on the other goats but through time they have addapted to become an integral part of the herd. Their idea of heaven is to be around people "helping", they are very good at emptying wheelbarrows, maybe not where you want them emptied but emptied none the less! They are difficult to tell apart except that Morris has a little horn on his head.

At night the two goats and two pigs share a loose box as has always been their custom, they get on really well together. To read more about George and Dunhill who arrived with Morris and Sutty please see the Pigs section.

Fran
Fran is a female Feral (wild) goat. Born on the 10th of April 1995 Fran wandered into a campsite on the outskirts of Newton Stewart, she was about a day old and on investigation her mother was discovered dead by the roadside. Mossburn was called, and while a volunteer rushed off to find fresh goats' milk, Juanita broke the speed limits to get to the orphaned Fran. "She spent the homeward journey attacking my underarm in an attempt to find milk and was disgusted on reaching Mossburn to be only given one fluid ounce of the stuff!" When any animal has been hungered it is wise not to immediately overload the system.

Fran lived in the house until she was four months old, then she went outside to join the other goats. I have often wondered if Fran thought of herself as human or of me as a goat... I have a horrid feeling it was the latter!

Rosie

Rosie
Rosie is a Toggenburg goat who came to Mossburn in January 2000 with Lindy who since died. Their previous owners loved them very much, however they were ill and felt that they could no longer look after them properly.

Rosie is away from home at the moment though not far away. A goat living locally lost her mother and was pining dreadfully so Rosie volunteered to go and keep her company.

Achmed

Achmed
Achmed came to Mossburn on the 1st of May 1999. His previous owners felt that he would have to go to slaughter, as he is a great escape artist and was causing much damage. He still likes to escape and will try and find green grass anywhere. Achmed is a Anglo Nubian castrated male and was born in 1997.

Billy
Billy came from a horse dealers yard where he had outgrown his usefulness on the 13th of March 1999. How anyone could part with an animal as sweet natured as Billy is incomprehensible. He is utterly adorable and will stand for hours while children cuddle him. He also has a sense of humour. Last year Billy broke his leg, we never discovered exactly how, anyway the leg was put in plaster and made a complete recovery. However nowadays if Billy does not feel he is getting enough attention he limps... well, it worked before!

Billy has to live in a loose box on his own at night with a door that shuts. This is because he can undo bolts and, not content with just letting himself out, he proceeds to let all the other goats as well!

Dougall
Dougall is a castrated Pygmy goat, we believe him to be quite old. He came to us just days before the Scottish outbreak of Foot and Mouth. If his owner had not been worried about him pining for his dead companion and asked us to take him in, Dougall too would now be dead. The farm he came from was culled as part of the 'contiguous cull' policy. Dougall is a very inquisitive chap, he has a lovely nature but needs to know everything that is going on! When we ear tagged and blood tested all our goats as part of our fight to save them from being culled, Dougall stood by and watched as everyone was done, he's a sort of supervisor!

Oliver and Larkin
Oliver and Larkin are castrated Pygmy Goats, discovered in a shed without food, water or bedding, and totally emaciated. This was several years ago and it was not long before they were brought back to full health. They are almost certainly brothers and it is difficult to tell them apart but Larkin has more white on him than Oliver. Out of all our goats they are the only two who will butt you if given the opportunity, they think it is fun but we tend to deprive them of the opportunity... they have large horns!

Jasper

Nan

Jasper and Nan
Jasper and Nan are two Saanen goats. Jasper, a castrated male, was born in March 1998 and Nan in September 1996. Nan was born with a deformity, she is twisted on her head and her rear end and her bottom teeth stick out which gives her the appearance of smiling all the time! Her deformity in no way impairs her quality of life. These goats used to live in Sunderland and came to us on the 16th of February 2002 when their owners were forced to move and could no longer provide accomodation for them.

Because of the movement restrictions imposed by the foot and mouth crisis it took four months to acquire the necessary licences to bring Jasper and Nan from Sunderland to Mossburn, for all of that time their owners had to pay the rent on two premises, that makes them rather valuable goats! When I went to pick them up I knew from our first meeting that Jasper, like Billy, was going to be "a bit of a lad" and so he has proved, full of fun and mischief! He is very fond of Fran but his love will always be his Nan, he is very protective of her. Nan on the other hand is very people orientated; she loves to come for a stroke and a cuddle. She has not formed any particular friendship with the other goats and just gets on well with everyone, it is obvious that Jasper is the love of her life.