Goats are center of attention at district fair show

Four-year-old Delaney Hart of Lynchburg, Tenn., didn't hesitate when her grandfather swung her onto the back of a 250-pound South African Boer goat.

She grabbed his curled horns and rode around the small pen like an expert. The goat, named Bunker, didn't hesitate either. He was more interested in sticking his head through the fence and trying to sip juice out of his owner's cup.

"You see, they make great pets," said Glen Ervin, Bunker's owner and Delaney's grandfather, who also lives in Lynchburg and has around 350 goats.

Ervin and his family are among several who traveled from out of state for Saturday's Boer goat show at the SEMO District Fair.

As nearly anyone at the show could tell you, goat meat is the most consumed meat in the world. Only in America is it not the most eaten red meat, but, with a growing Muslim population, American demand for it is growing.

Eleven-year-old Kyle Best and his family from Gordonville were among the small number of goat farmers in Cape Girardeau County at Saturday's show.

Kyle trimmed, brushed and oiled his 10-month-old female Boer, Mindy, before the show. His family has a herd of 32 goats, and Kyle usually gets up around 6 a.m. to help feed and count them.

"They don't really eat tin cans and plastic bags like you see on TV," Best said.

But they're not above nibbling on a notebook or loose piece of clothing, and they do like to climb, making them excellent escape artists. Perhaps above all else, owners say, goats have more personality than the average barnyard animal.

Jackson resident Kelley Brown's male Boer, Mr. Freeze, spent a good deal of the morning with his front two legs propped up on top of his fenced pen.

"He always wants to stand up and put his head on your shoulder," Brown said.

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128