MOUNT WILLIAM
Brian Affleck wasn’t blaming anyone but himself – in other words, he wasn’t looking for a scapegoat.
He is, however, looking for two ‘escaped goats.’
But this is no time to be kidding around.
On Tuesday, the local golf pro/businessman/farmer was getting ready to pen a couple of female goats he was to adding to his petting zoo at Eagle’s Chance golf course in Mount William.
Bubba (a male goat, often referred to as a ‘buck’ or a billy’) was waiting for them, too.
At one critical moment, Affleck turned his back on them for an instant, the goats got spooked by a horse – and perhaps their new surroundings – and ran across the golf course and into the woods.
Affleck and some family and friends have been trying to lure them back ever since. A couple of times this week, he took Bubba out into the woods with him, hoping he could use Bubba’s charm to help lure them home, but no luck.
“I was hoping the sound of him blatting would attract them.”
The goats can’t be enticed with food, either, Affleck explained, because they love to seek out their own nourishment.
“They like to search for their food, so really, they’re kind of in goat heaven right now. They have hundreds of acres to look for food. All the leaves and the branches and everything, they’re not going to starve.”
As of Friday afternoon, the goats were in a field that sits adjacent to his course, and while they have been spotted numerous times in the past few days, they seem to be enjoying their freedom.
“It’s the closest they’ve been here since Tuesday, which is promising. But at the same time, if they cross Mount William Road, it broadens their area,” he said.
“They’ve been staying within a kilometre (of the course), but they don't know this is home, that’s the issue. The road and the coyotes are the two big threats.”
Early Saturday, Affleck planned on having a crew help him erect a fence in order to close in on the elusive critters and bring them home.
“Once we locate them, we’re going to try to use a snow fence to make a perimeter around them.”
