Posted by Helene on December 02, 2002 at 12:22:06:
In Reply to: Opinions on Molly's bizarre behavior needed posted by Mary on November 30, 2002 at 07:19:42:
Mary, I have had the same thing happen here at our house. Todd our oldest son was outside sighting in his shotgun a few weeks ago. He will go out in the field where the goats are, and shoot at a target, of course he makes sure no goats are around..They only hang out in that part of the field during the day when it is warm..then they go over to the other side.
Well my dopey Eris will go out of her way to greet him or anyone that goes behind the gates and she hangs out next to my son as he is shooting his gun at the targets..the gun shots do not seem to bother her, but they do bother 1 of our other goats and Ralph the Great Pyr. So much so that I had asked him to not sight his gun or target shoot in our yard anymore.
Wes, our other son runs in the house, mom there is something wrong with Ralph and one of the goats. Now keep in mind, Ralph is a excellent LGD but does not like to be petted by humans. Wes said Ralph was sitting in the barn and shaking and he actually let him go up to him and pet him and check him to see if he was ok..The other goat was standing in the barn, head up in the air screaming and yelling like she was in pain.
After a few hrs all calmed down. But the next day my son went out with his gun again..and the same thing happened..so in our case it was that they were freaked out about the gun shots!!
Again, I have asked my son to not sight his gun in our yard again..I do not like upsetting the animals. But the other day I heard a gun shot that was too close for comfort and Mike was pulling in the driveway at the same time. The property that adjoins ours, which is like 30 something acres is owned by a person who lives out of state. Mike caught 2 kids coming out of the gates to that property on a 4 wheeler w/guns. He immediatly found out who the kids were, and went over to their house and asked if they had permission to hunt on that property..of course the parents said no. I hope Mike scared them enough for them not to come back..Aside from the fact that I have animals out there..my kids play in my yard and I do not like people hunting so close to our property line.
I am going to try and find the owners address and see if I can write to him, perhaps he can contact these people and reinforce what Mike told them. We have been living out here for 3 yrs and this is the first time we had this problem, hope it is the last too.