Nancy asked me if we had goats on the island. We’ve seen a few here, a few there. One “herd” even grazes on the shooting range while we’re sighting in air rifles. “Yes,” I explain, “we have a few.”
Monday the weather was beautiful, a spring-like day (between days of rain and winter winds) and we stopped at the shooting range to check some measurements. After I closed the gate, we waited in traffic as hundreds of goats, old ones, baby kids (they are the really cute ones), dogs, and shepherds (?) brought them from the fields in the woods and mountains to graze on the grass along the highway. On Terceira, most things have a basis in nature (when you’re thousands of miles from either mainland, cohabitating with nature is a watchword for everything before any technology is applied). Thus hours of mowing grass, fuel, pollution, and noise are avoided while keeping local goats and farmers employed and happy.
Yes, Nancy, we have goats! They are cute, harmless (unless you call traffic delays harmful – we’re retired!) and natural. So we put the truck in neutral, wait patiently, enjoy the dogs working, the goats exhibiting their individual (and herd) mentalities, and wait for the road to clear.
By the way, natural selection includes a food chain. Goats (Cabritos) is on many menus as well:) They are cute, abundant, and tasty!