Ransleben's Kid

Ransleben's Kid

April 10, 2007

Ransleben's Kid

 

“Ruth, would you mind turning around?” I asked. “There is a nice scene of goats in the hill country back there.”  My two sisters (Peggy & Ruth), my wife (Pat) and I had all agreed earlier that we were in no hurry.  We had all day to explore the Willow City Loop north of Fredericksburg and it was a glorious spring day.  We had binoculars, cameras, and eyes open to the wonders of nature.  It was still a little too early for the bluebonnets, but the hills were greening and although it was still cool, it was a pleasant cool.

So Ruth turned her car around and slowly drove close to the goats congregated along the fence.  Across the fence was a hill country ranch house that found shade and comfort under a mot of oak trees.  Between us and the ranch house stood a large, black dog that was decidedly unhappy with our presence.  As we approached, the goats began to back off the fence-line but seemed a little agitated.  A billy goat was ramming its head against a large cactus plant to exhibit his macho.  

Ransleben's Billy Goat

 

Then we noticed the source of their nervousness.  One small kid had somehow made its way through the goat fence and was in danger of wandering out onto the highway and becoming roadkill.  

Ransleben Ranch Sign

 

Sister Ruth said, “Winnie, do something.”  My first reaction was that the little goat had found its way out through the fence and that it would find its way back in without any help from us.  My experience with farm animals is that there was a real chance that approaching a nervous little kid might cause it to panic, jump into the fence and break its little neck while trying to rejoin its mother on the other side.  I imagined standing over the quivering little kid that was dying of a broken neck when the owners would appear and demand to know why I had killed their goat.  Or, the large part Pyrenees dog would jump over the fence when it saw the commotion and neatly remove the calf on one of my legs.  Then, there was that onery-looking billy goat looking for trouble. Was this one little goat really worth the risk?  After all, millions of little goats get their throats cut every day as religious sacrifices or for human consumption.  Why is this little goat so special?

Ruth, Pat, Peggy and Win fueling at Cooper's BBQ

 

I tried to convey these thoughts to my sisters, but they were not listening.  There was that cute little goat with those large round eyes and it was in danger.  We must help!  The conversation was over!  As Pat and I remained in the back seat, Peggy and Ruth opened their doors and cautiously approached the kid.  Did that dumb little kid that had recklessly found its way outside the fence, jump into the fence and break its neck?  No way!  It obviously sensed some greater power emanating from my benevolent sisters and calmly walked along the fence till it found a gate.  There it stood patiently as Peggy opened the gate and the kid happily rejoined its mother.  The big, bad, coyote-killing dog stopped barking, sat down on its haunches and – although it did not appear to wag its tail – it did seem to smile.  

Peggy and Ruth after closing the gate at Ransleben's Ranch

Peggy and Ruth returned to the car and were kind enough not to lecture me about helping God’s poor little creatures.  There was an aura of warm, fuzzy, compassion exuding from their very pores.  On this day, love of nature was the obvious victor and clear, hard reason was a total failure -- even though it had not been tested.

OK, so when you see a goat do you first think of cabrito or hugs.

Grandkids Auston and Kynwyn Sterling with kid hugs

 

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