I once had a goat named Billy. Silly Billy was a naughty little goat. He was black with a little bit of white on his head, under his tummy and on his legs. He loved to run, butt into things, and jump.

I lived on a farm then, and Billy’s mamma and auntie lived there too. They were white goats and gave us lots of milk. While the lady goats worked hard keeping the grass mowed, little Billy ran around terrorizing everyone. He was so cute though.

Yes, cute was the problem. When he was small everyone laughed at his antics. I had a friend named Michael who like to butt heads with Billy. As Billy grew bigger and became stronger Michael decided to wear his motorcycle helmet to play “butt heads” with Billy.

Billy was smart too. He realized that when cars drove away and came back, they were often full of goodies on their return. He would watch for the car door to open and jump into the back seat to tear away at the grocery bags before they could all be unloaded. Billy was bold.

Everyone had to learn to wrestle with Billy, pull him out of the car by the horns, and chase him away. But Billy was persistent.

Billy learned to charge from a distance. Head down, from behind, with a final jump to butt the butt of anyone carrying a bag of groceries. The unsuspecting person would lose the bag and land face flat on the ground while Billy got the goods. God forbid if you were alone on the farm with Billy.

Billy didn’t stop there, as he became aware of his size, weight and growing horns he learned new tricks like jumping on top of cars. We had to use a broom to shoo him off. But when Billy got mad or decided to fight back he would catch his horn around his opponents leg and flip them. Ahh…, enough Billy, you’re out of control.

Happy Year of the Goat

I found the description below of the goat personality from Chinese astrology and I thought it rather odd considering my experience. But then Billy’s female relatives never caused any problems at all.

The Goat’s Personality: Calm, Gentle…

People born in a year of the Goat are generally believed to be gentle mild-mannered, shy, stable, sympathetic, amicable, and brimming with a strong sense of kindheartedness and justice. (from: http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/goat.asp)

They have very delicate thoughts, strong creativity, and perseverance, and acquire professional skills well. Although they look gentle on the surface, they are tough on the inside, always insisting on their own opinions in their minds. They have strong inner resilience and excellent defensive instincts.

Though they prefer to be in groups, they do not want to be the center of attention. They are reserved and quiet, most likely because they like spending much time in their thoughts. Goats like to spend money on fashionable things that give them a first class appearance. Although goats enjoy spending money on the finer things in life, they are not snobbish.