My Very Own Escape Artist

I think I might have to change Kodiak's name to Houdini.

Despite working to dismantle the fence all winter, she has made some amazing progress on it in the last few days; she broke out on Monday and came down to the patio door to say hi to us. This event led to both Doug and I losing a good portion of our workday to fixing the situation. Doug went up to the garden, which is where Kodiak and JB (the wether) have been housed all winter. The garden fence is sort of patched together, it is a combination of very old rusty and bent wire fence, topped off with a plastic deer fence that we added to keep the deer out last summer. Then we determined that she tried extra hard to get out because despite the fact that I had given them plenty of hay that morning, there was NO hay in their feeder and since they were so obviously starving, Kodiak decided to go find food so clearly this was all my fault.

Anyway, while Doug patched together the fencing (again) I put Kodiak on a leash and walked around with her a bit. At one point she was in the house with me while I answered the phone. Then I decided to try out the milk stand that Doug built and check her hooves. I knew her front hooves needed some attention but I was shocked by how bad the back ones looked. After trying out quite a few different positions, most of which caused both of us some pain, I managed to do an ok job of getting them trimmed, despite being convinced that she also had foot rot (she doesn't; I was in a melodramatic mood). I probably have to work on the back ones a bit more but will wait to do that for another week, we both need a rest I think!

Doug and I both figured he had closed up all the soft spots in the fence but today, while I was out this afternoon for a few hours, Kodiak got out of the garden not just once but 4 times! Poor Doug! He had to catch her, get her back up to the garden, figure out where she got out, then try to fix the spot. Each time Kodiak escaped she went in a different direction; first down to the patio, another time she went to visit the bee hives, then it was off to the secret garden. Most notable however, was her visit to the chicken coop which is just off the patio. She went into their yard through the human door (it was open, the chickens were out having a party in my flower garden free ranging)

then went into the henhouse THROUGH THE CHICKEN DOOR.

You can't even make this up, people! The chicken door is 14" high by 10" wide and I know this because I went out and measured it when I got home and Doug told me the story.

I can't even imagine how she did it, but Doug got there just as the hens that had been inside were fleeing out squawking and flapping their wings and found her standing innocently inside the coop. I am almost sorry I missed that scene.......

We REALLY need to get the fence up around their new home now and move them to their new home. I have also decided that we are definitely adding a few hot lines there, I have been on the fence about that recently because I didn't think they could get out.

These goats are turning me into a cynic.