SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
As North Country Stables gears up for another busy season of horseback riding, there is a new animal attraction that is getting a lot of attention, especially from children.
Johan, left, Heidi and Wojtek, six-week-old baby goats, play inside their pen in front of their mother Matilda at the North Country Stables on Highway 3. Matilda used to live in Yellowknife along with a male goat named Borek. They were rescued from a possible date with the slaughterhouse and moved to the stables last fall where they and their "kids" have become the star attraction. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
People have been flocking to the stables to see an adorable triplet of six-week-old baby goats. That is according to veterinarian Tom Pisz, who owns the stables as well as Great Slave Animal Hospital.
The mother goat Matillda, and a male goat named Borek were given a stay of execution last fall after they were put up for sale by their owners - the Wohlgemuth family. The family had kept them in a pen at their residence on 45 Street, which had become a tourist attraction in its own right.
When resident Teresa Michalski heard the goats were for sale and could end up on someone's dinner table, she stepped in and started a campaign to buy and save the goats. She raised enough money to purchase the animals and moved them to the stables. Matilda's progeny have now stolen much of the attention from the horses also located at the stables.
"She asked me and my wife if she could actually house them here. I said I don't mind but we need to build a fence," said Pisz. "So she rounded up some volunteers and built a pen."
The enclosure will eventually have to be made bigger as the baby goats grow, said Pisz.
Pisz said Borek was unable to get Matilda pregnant so Pisz borrowed another male - known as a billy goat - from Arctic Farmer in hopes it could get Matilda pregnant.
"That's another story," said Pisz. "The father's name is Jeffrey and he was born a year ago. I delivered him by C-section at the clinic. He was my first goat C-section," Pisz joked.
He said he wondered if Jeffrey was old enough to breed but sure enough, after a while, they realized Matilda was pregnant.
Pisz said he was pleasantly surprised when Matilda gave birth to three baby goats on March 23, his 60th birthday. Pisz said goats usually have one or two kids at a time so he was surprised when he went out to the pen as saw three of them.
"The little one is a runt. We had to feed him by bottle because he didn't get enough milk. We fed him for about four weeks, at first four times a day, Now he's catching up so he's good. His name is Wojtek. I'm from Poland and my middle name is Wojtek - so he's named after me."
The other two goats - Heidi and Johan - are bigger than their brother. Pisz said Johan weighs about 40 pounds already.
Pisz's wife, Patricia Dartnell said the myth about goats eating just about anything is true.
"They like paper. They like plastic," she said.
Dartnell added the goats are much like dogs in some ways.
"We took them for a walk earlier today. They got up on the rocks. They loved it."
She said the goats will wander off but like a dog, they will come when called. Dartnell said they have had many families come out to the stables to see the baby goats since they were born.
Michalski said she couldn't be happier that the family of goats has expanded to five. She said other people have helped as well, including Glen Meek, from Glen's Independent Grocer, who she said donates leftover produce to feed to the goats as often as he can.
The public is welcome to visit the goats at the stables which are on the north side of Highway 3 just beyond the city limits from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Pisz asks visitors to please not open the gate to the pen.
