The Goaty Goats of Dancing Goat Sanctuary
StarinaOur Starina arrived unceremoniously and unexpectedly with one of our neighbors, in the bottom of a bucket. After clearing up some mild pneumonia and happily sleeping in her dog crate in the house for over a year, our girl finally moved out. Seven years later she is no longer the princess of the farm; she is unquestionably the Queen and ruler of the roost. No one messes with Starina. Her enclosure mates, Starsky and Hutch can testify to that. Fortunately she does let them have ample time at the food station although by her girth, one might not believe it.
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PrincePrince's original name was "Totes my Goats," Prince is a quiet sort of guy. This gentleman of a goat enjoys nothing more than a scratch on the back for a stolen moment, until Elvis figures out that he is missing out, and remedies the situation. Prince and his friends Harry and Oreo often share "fun time" in the main farm area since they are pretty trustworthy fellows.
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PepiaulaniPepiaulani, or "heavenly ears," is our littlest caprine resident. With her little knock knees, and flippety-floppity ears, she is pretty cute. In spite of her small size she is the dominant animal in her enclosure which she shares with both goats and sheep. She is a sweetheart with humans but she can be a terror with the other critters, sheep included, even though they tower over her. iaulani
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HutchThere are almost no words to describe Hutch. Our veterinarian refers to him as a "supermodel" goat. Long and lean, Hutch has a gracefulness that is uncommon to goats. But, unlike most models, he has cast his dignity aside and prefers to embrace a more "frat boy" lifestyle with his bestie Starsky. An indiscriminate chewer of hair, and producer of methane beyond measure, Hutch is a Goober if we have ever met one.
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StarskyStarsky is Hutch's partner in crime. Also tall and graceful, Starsky is a bit more refined in his tastes than his BFG. Starsky's flowing locks and gentle disposition make him an ideal candidate for a scritch (scratch/itch) session. We don't know why Starsky hangs out with Hutch, but their friendship is a wonderful example of critter brotherly love. Starsky
watches for the opportunity to unlatch the gate and when he is successful, he and Hutch enjoy a fun romp before being led back to their enclosure. |
ShermanSherman is a tank. A mild mannered guy, Sherman enjoys cuddling with his BFF Penelope. Sherman's previous owner adopted them together, but only wanted Penelope. So Sherman came to stay with the DGS. He seemed shy and tried to escape whenever he got an opportunity, leaping over fences, and plowing through gates. Only when Penelope came to join him (she was ramming people, and tripping them with her tie out), did we realize how much these two were missing each other.
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PenelopePenelope, now that she is with Sherman, has never rammed anyone. And she may have a sort of silly sense of humor... maybe it's those dangly things under her chin! ;)
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Valentine
Valentine is best buds with Oreo, who was surrendered with her to the humane society when they were just a couple of week old. Valentine was immediately hospitalized with a respiratory infection. She also had a persistent eye infection - which turned out to be caused by eyelashes growing on the wrong side of her eyelid. Eww. Now that our Val-E-Girl is all grown up she is a happy camper, flaunting those dingle dangles under her chin and enjoying the company of Oreo and her other enclosure mates. |
Oreo
Oreo is a dancing, climbing, bouncing goat. Preferring to walk around the paddock on the boards that protect our fences from horn sharpening and head butting activities. If Oreo's feet don't touch the ground for hours at a time, we wouldn't be surprised. He is an exceptionally sweet male goat which gets him more outside the enclosure time than any of the other goats although Prince and Harry frequently join him in the main farm area. |
Clarisse and LanolinClarisse is the best friend of Lanolin. We only introduce her this way because we think that this is the way she would like to have it. Found wandering loose, Clarisse took Lanolin in as a lamb (yep, he's a sheep!), and they can never be found apart.
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Harry
Even though he has the droopy ears and a gentle disposition and seemed like he would be a prime candidate for a cuddle, it took a few years before Harry discovered the joy of human delivered scritching. Harry is now a very loveable guy, with a girth to match that of Starina. He, along with Oreo and Prince, earn "play time" in the main farm area because he is so well mannered. (for a goat) |
Lauren
One of the disadvantages of having a place of refuge for critters is that sometimes people with good intentions do something that is just downright dangerous for the very animals they are trying to send to us! Baby Lauren and her little buddy Ralph were left outside of our farm fence with their tiny collars tied up with twine. Of course, having eaten the twine they were running amok around the farm perimeter. Luckily some sharp eyes spotted caprine activity off property, and we were able to herd them through a perimeter gate. Ralph and Lauren were tiny for their age, and Ralph was diagnosed with juvenile lymphoma only weeks after arriving on the farm. Despite an heroic effort by our wonderful veterinarian and her caring staff to diagnose and treat him, little Ralph did not survive. Lauren did and she is a beautiful little goat who unfortunately has picked up some bad habits from Pepiaulani but is sweet on a 1 to 1 basis. |
Elvis
Despite his debonaire appearance, Elvis was surrendered to the humane society when he became a bit too much for anyone to handle. In fact, when we arrived to crate him up he was standing on the roof of a shed, basking in all his masculine glory. Elvis began his initiation into farm life by busting out of a 6 foot tall quarantine pen several times, and complaining loudly until he was within sight distance of other goats. Fortunately Elvis found his way to DGS, and after his moment of reckoning with the veterinarian he has calmed down quite a bit. You should still stand downwind, however. He took over the alpha male role for the goat herd in his enclosure upon his arrival and maintains it still. |
Rascal
In Hawai'i we are careful about names. If you give something a name that means something, you are likely to get exactly that. We tried very hard to find a less "troublemaker" name for this tiny baby goat who arrived with a fractured leg. But an adorable little Rascal he is, and so it goes. |