Enterprise (Feb 02/04) - If you knock on a certain door in Enterprise, you may be greeted by the sound of a baying goat.

That would be Spooky -- a dark brown pygmy Angora goat. He is the pet of Cathy Kimble and her family.

Don't be misled by the word 'pygmy,' Spooky weighs about 82 lb. and has seven-inch horns.

But for Kimble, the goat is just another member of the family.

"I can't imagine life without him," she said, describing Spooky as a "real baby."

Her grown daughter Jessie Kimble added, "Everybody just loves him."

Finicky eater

Like any member of the family, there are plenty of funny and unusual stories about Spooky: He loves coffee and even takes a drink of liquor once in a while.

That began when a glass of rye whisky spilled a little too close to him.

Spooky is also a finicky eater.

"He won't eat salad unless it has Ranch salad dressing," Kimble says.

The goat also rarely eats grass growing from the ground. Instead, Kimble buys bales of alfalfa and hay for him.

Her daughter notes Spooky once tried a dandelion, made a face and spit it out.

Instead, he prefers toast and jam in the morning, going for rides in a van and chewing on his goatee to trim it.

A great pet

Kimble bought Spooky in Alberta for her daughter, who wanted a lamb when she was a child.

"We said let's take it home and see what she says."

That was two years ago, when Spooky was just six months old. His type of goat can live more than 20 years.

Kimble said the goat makes a great pet, is lots of fun and has never broken anything in the house.

Some work required

Spooky was neutered, and his scent glands have been removed. That means there is no goat smell in the house.

The goat is also largely house trained.

Kimble said Spooky spends about eight hours a day in the house, explaining if he is out too long he loses his "house manners."

When it is cold, he stays in the house all night.

"He thinks he's a dog," Jessie Kimble said, explaining he grew up around the two other family pets.

"If you put him with a herd of goats, he wouldn't know what to do," said Jessie's dad Glenn Roberts, who explained the goat needs lots of patience, love and time.