Canis lupus hominis

It is May 29-31 at the Gilmer County Recreation Center in Glenville.

I have a special affinity for sheep and goats. Maybe in a past life I was a mountain shepherd or goatherd. I don’t know.

The first goat I ever knew was named “Hank,” a bottle fed Anglo-Nubian. He was like a Weimaraner puppy that pooped little pellets and bleated when he wanted attention.

I would go to this event, but I’m on schedule to dog-sit during that weekend. I’m dog-sitting two Jack Russells, one of which is a bit of an smooth-coated old man and the other a very disobedient but very clever rough-coated puppy. His owners also want me to teach a few basic obedience commands. I know this pup is smart, but I don’t think I’ll have him fully trained in just a few days.

Details on the show can be found here.

Now it might sound strange to you, but lots of people in West Virginia have goats. They aren’t as difficult to care for as sheep, and they don’t require vast pastures like cattle do. I know of several working goat dairies, and I also know of people who raise Boer goats for their meat, which is in demand. As our population of Middle Eastern immigrants increases so does the demand for goat meat that has been slaughtered per religious instructions.  Some people also use their milk, not just for making cheese and for general consumption but also for making soap.

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Where I grew up there are remote areas that have feral goats.

What?

Yes. When there were large numbers of people moving into the countryside in what was called the “back to the land” movement, lots of enterprising would-be subsistence farmers bought goats. When they discovered how difficult it was to actually make a go of such marginal farmland, they abandoned the goats, and the goats thrived on their own.

The back to the land movement has its roots in the work of Helen and Scott Nearing. The Nearings were well-educated people. Scott was an economist, and Helen was musician. They both had experienced enough of so-called civilization in the university system, so they began farming, first in Vermont and then in Maine. They wrote two books on their experiences living the agrarian lifestyle– Living the Good Life (1954) and Continuing the Good Life (1979).

Their work had a major influence on many young idealists during that time period. West Virginia lay relatively close to the cities of Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., not to mention how many people left the industrial cities of Ohio and the steel towns of Western Pennsylvania for their chance at the “good life.” The land was dirt cheap. Taxes were low. What could go wrong?

Now, the old hill farmers told them that they couldn’t make a living on that land. The soil was too thin and filled with rocks. But when you’re idealistic and young, you feel like you can do anything. My maternal grandfather, who was a seasoned farmer, did his best to help these people succeed in their agricultural enterprises. He’d grown up in agricultural tradition that saw modernization of agriculture as the farmer’s  greatest goal. Now, here were young people who wanted to farm as his grandparents did, and he was more than willing to lend a hand with his expertise.

Within a decade, reality began to wear away at them. Most of them took conventional jobs to make a living, while others moved on. If you talk to most of those who remain, they usually have no regrets, but they still long for a time when they once had it all figured out. It is tempting to call them sell-outs, but I certainly wouldn’t. Sometimes dreams don’t turn out as we’d hoped.