"We sure miss him and all his antics."
Elmer Fudd 2/84 to 12/29/97

After the mudslide in Washoe Valley - just outside of Carson City, Nevada - displaced us in 1983, we had bought a house with barns on two-and-a-half acres five miles south in the same valley. As time went on we began to add critters to our place. First we got a steer, then someone gave us some chickens, and of course people are always giving me horses for free. Then in the spring of '84 I was feeding my friend's critters while she was away. I had both my kids with me. They were small then and fell in love with one of the baby goats that were there. My friend gave me the goat for feeding for her.

We named the little goat Elmer Fudd while he was riding home with us in the front of the pick up. He was white, with sorta long ears, and he was a weather(?). He was so small that we had him live in the back yard with a dog house for shelter. He thought that was pretty neat. He got alfalfa, grain, and all the grass he could eat. Best of all when he wanted company he could walk right over to the screen door to the kitchen and look right in.

For the next two years he lived in the back yard, playing with the kids and the old dogs we had. When the dogs would run to the fence and bark, he would run too with his long ears standing straight out from his head like airplane wings. When I filled up the wading pool for the kids, the dogs and Elmer would jump right in with them. I had never seen a goat act like this! As the kids got bigger they began opening the screen or sliding door for Elmer. I would walk into the living room and there would be the kids and Elmer watching cartoons or a movie together. As Elmer got bigger he started letting himself in since the kids had shown him how. Finally after cleaning up little goat surprises, Elmer was banned to outside of the yard.

Our property was fenced in so he really couldn't go anywhere. Besides he always came when we called him. He buddied up on our small weanling arab stallion, Tiger. He lived with Tiger until Tiger became two and discovered that he was a stallion. Then he played to rough for Elmer to handle. Elmer had grown to at least 200 pounds, too.

Through the years Elmer would lay in the sun in front of Tiger's paddock and always had a preference for chestnut horses. In fact, that was the only color of horse he ever butted was chestnut. Any chestnut with white socks or stockings would do. He would butt them when they were tied up or being unloaded or loaded. He also got into the trailers every time you opened one up----he knew there was food in there. He also had a terrible habit of trashing the feed room when you turned your back. He had a real thing for Nu-Image coat conditioner, eating out of the container after taking the lid off. He had a gorgeous goat all year round!!!!

In the early 90's one of clients gelded her aged arab stallion, Blue. As Blue recovered he started hanging out with Elmer and when we moved Blue into the general population in the back row, Elmer went with him. He lived with him until his last day. A year after Elmer started living with Blue, we got some new neighbors to the south. When they moved in they brought their minature goats with them. Elmer listened to the new and unique sounds of goats bleating. He decided to pay them a visit to see what they were. He crawled through the 3 rail fence and went across their pasture. He stood about 20 feet away from the mini goats' pen and just stared, with his ears out straight and the hair straight up on the back of his neck. They were real quiet at first. Elmer raised his nose in the air and sniffed. Whew what a smell as he curled his upper lip up into the air. Then the little goats recognized Elmer as a goat and they all started bleating at him at once. Elmer jumped up in the air, landed facing our barns and took off home at a dead run!! He never went back for a visit the three years that they lived next to us!!

On Monday, 12-29-97, Elmer had a stroke (we think) because he didn't get out of Blue's way when Blue went to leave his stall. Blue tried to get by him, but Elmer got in the way struggling to get up. Blue accidently stepped on him and broke his hind leg. So that afternoon our vet put Elmer Fudd to sleep.

We sure miss him and all his antics. I asked him to say "hi" for me to all my equine friends that have gone before.

Shirley Sepulveda
Managing Editor of the Horse Review

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