Are You Missing Two GOATS??

[Henry]

Yup thats right, Two GOATS were picked up by our Animal Control Officer, Bill Stygles this afternoon.  If they are yours or you know who they belong to, please call 849-6268.

[Henry]

I called the people that live here on the Fletcher Road that have goats to see if they had any missing.  The lady told me, "I don't think so, but let me go out and count them."  She came back in a couple minutes and told me they were all there.  Somebody will come forward, hopefully they have our Animal Control Officer's phone number as the Town Office won't be open until next Monday.

[Henry]

Lets broaden the search out a bit - Anybody out Westford Way missing any goats?  I just called Bill Stygles and nobody has claimed them yet.

[Henry]

I have just approved the registration of the person who found the goats yesterday.  He doesn't even live here in town.  Hopefully he will post shortly and give you a little background on his finding the goats - Has to be a pretty nice guy to show this amount of concern.

[catvet]

I just wanted to jump in about my experience with these two goats.  My wife Caroline and I were heading home to Hyde Park after a trip to "the big city" yesterday when we saw two goats running down the center of RT 128.  There was a car immediately behind them and we were heading towards them.  Not a good situation if you are a scared, cold goat. We pulled off the road and stopped, I opened my window and the white goat came right up to my window to say hi.  The brown one continued past the car and up to Caroline who had gotten out.  Both were very friendly and the white one had a bit of blood on it I suspect from escape wounds.

Fortunately the person in the car who was following them stopped and over the next hour tried numerous phone calls and a trip to town clerk to get help.  I believe his name was John.  A big help, thanks if you read this.  Also early on a very nice lady stopped and then went knocking on doors to see if she could find anyone who knew about them.  No luck, most people weren't home.

We stood by the roadside for about an hour hoping for inspiration and help before Bill Styles could get there.  The goats were perfect companions for the whole time.  They kept close to us which helped keep both us and them warm.  Occasionally they would take a bite of the dried grass by the road.  All in all it seemed like it was a normal day for them. 

We were very impressed with the friendliness of people driving by.  I would say that well over 1/2 of the occupants waved to us and gave a smile.  I suspect they were wondering why the idiots were standing out by the road with goats.  Perhaps they were hoping that one of us was George Clooney from the "Men who Stare at Goats" movie.  Perhaps my wife was hoping that also.

In any case I hope that whoever owns these goats claims them.  They looked in good shape so I'm thinking someone cares about them.  We have 10 pygmy goats of our own and know we would be frantic if some of them wondered off.

Thanks for John's help and for Bill Stygles coming to get them. 

Sorry for the long post.

[Henry]

Thanks Jerry - And you are right, folks around here are all very friendly and helpful.  It actually surprises me that we haven't found the owners yet as word on the forum usually gets around pretty quickly.  Our Animal Control Officer lives up in Fletcher and I am sure the goats are getting good care.

[Judi]

I don't know where on rte 128 you were at but I am pretty sure that at the top of the hill just before the school bus garage on the left side of the road is a fairly new house with a large white fence.  They have horses and I am most certain I have seen goats in the field with them. I have no idea the names of these people but it might be worth checking out.

[Rev. Elizabeth]

You are right, Judy, I too have seen goats in the field with the horses on 128 near the bus area, just before the Milton road..  I distinctly remember that one of the goats was a lovely bronze color. 

[catvet]

I don't know where the school bus garage is, not being familiar with town, but we were at the bottom of the hill where 128 runs into 104.  It would be great if the owners were found.  I suspect that the goats were coming down the hill (from Rt. 104 side) from home.  Of course they might have been heading back home after some shopping in town.

Jerry

[cdzgang]

This may be the owner of the goats.  I have called and left her a message.  This was on the Westford Front Porch Forum

"SEEKING MISSING GOATS!
"This is no joke, I've lost two of my goats on Friday, December 11th. Both are female dairy goats, one white Sanaan and the other is a brown Nubian. Last seen near Huntley rd in Westford. I think they may have been spooked off my property by some coyotes. Both were wearing collars.

Please call me at 752-7311 if anyone has seen them."

[Henry]

I also called that number.  Apparently it is the Westford Dog Catcher's Number and I left a message also with Bill Stygles number.

[catvet]

Sounds like good news.  Hopefully the girls will soon be home.

I'll be interested to hear how this turns out.

Jerry

[Henry]

I just spoke with our Animal Control Officer and the owner of the goats has called them and will be up to get them this afternoon, so it looks like the two girls will be home for Christmas.  Happy Ending

[slpott]

We certainly have a lot to be thankful for. Coming from a big city it is amazing the network we have. (Thank you Henry). It is very apparent that people really do care and it is shown daily around town. I will never forget the first year we were here and found a horse in my yard. It took 1 call to Henry and 1 call to Linda Tracy and the horse got home without the owners knowledge. It was amazing and quite fun for us city folk. I love it here.

[catvet]

That is great news.  I'm glad the girls are going home.  We might be country folk but modern technology (this forum) has helped in this case.  Thanks Henry for providing this service and thanks to the good folks of Fairfax.  Caroline and I will sleep better tonight.

Jerry