Keeping an Eye on Annie

We've kept Annie in her labor and delivery birthing suite (i.e. the barn) for over a week now as we have wanted to keep her out of the miserable weather.  Her due date is somewhere around February 20th.  She's been warm and dry in the barn.  Yesterday Tricia and I wanted to check on her progress.  She seems to be very swollen in her back end and her teats are swollen as well.  She's getting close.  In fact, Tricia and I listened as she sat and moaned.  We were thinking that she was going into labor, but as of this morning, no kids.

While we are talking about goats, I wanted to show you something that is truly interesting about goats - their eyes!  Check out this close-up of Annie's pupils.  They are rectangular!

In the animal kingdom, sheep, goats, and some other animals, have rectangular pupils.  Goats are seen as prey (as opposed to predators).  They are herbivores.  Predators (cats, snakes, alligators) have vertical slits for pupils .  The goats' rectangular pupils allow them to see 280 degrees around them, and that allows them to see predators coming and keeps them safe.  However, they don't have much vision vertically.

Annie will undoubtedly make use of her ability to see 280 degrees around her when she has given birth and has to keep track of at least one more baby.  We'll keep you posted as she progresses in pregnancy.  We have our eyes on her and she's got her eyes on us.