Two unique little pet goats and their owner have been turning heads in B.C.’s Okanagan over the last few months.
Lexus and Miata have been following their owner off leash as he runs errands since early winter
Two unique little pet goats and their owner have been turning heads in B.C.’s Okanagan over the last few months.
Since November, Lexus and Miata, one-year-old female miniature silky fainting goats, have been following their owner Greg Krauter off leash as he runs errands in his hometown of Summerland or travels around the Okanagan.
Miniature silky fainting goats, or mini silkies, get their name from their long, silky coat and a myotonic gene that makes them faint and fall over when startled.
Krauter says he bought his two “little girls” last spring from Penticton’s GottaGoat, which is one of five B.C. farms approved to breed the species by the Virginia-based Miniature Silky Fainting Goat Association.
Krauter says his two does are docile and don’t need to be on a leash because they’re genetically designed to follow the alpha, meaning their owner or the dominant animal in the herd.
“They hate being away from their alpha because their alpha is their safety. They’ll never go out of sight, and they always want to stay near the alpha.”
WATCH | Goats Lexus and Miata walk with their human in downtown Kelowna:Â
B.C. man causes stir running errands with 2 pet goats
Miniature silky ‘fainting’ goats Lexus and Miata, both 1, love Tim Hortons bagels, says goat’s owner Greg Krauter of Summerland, B.C.
Krauter says he has been taking his two pets out with him since this winter’s first heavy snowfall so they can get some exercise.
“Their yard was completely covered in snow — they got nothing [there] to eat,” he said. “They don’t like snow in their stomachs.”
Goats love Tim Hortons’ bagels
Krauter says he often takes his little companions to coffee shops, including Tim Hortons, where the cinnamon raisin bagel is the two animals’ all-time favourite.
“It’s the only processed food that they like. They don’t like cinnamon raisin [bagels] from a different company — It’s always Timmies.”
Krauter says Lexus and Miata have become minor celebrities in the Okanagan. Dozens of local residents and tourists came forward to pet and photograph them when he visited Kelowna Tuesday morning. He even held the animals up for kisses.
Kim Pasco from Vancouver, who ran into them near Kelowna City Park, said she enjoyed the tactile sensation of feeding them seeds with her hands.Â
“It’s amazing how accurate they are with the tongue — they can snap those seeds off your hand, and you can barely feel the tongue getting the seeds.”
Krauter says given the great experience he’s had with Lexus and Miata, he’s thinking of buying two more female mini silkies from the same farm this spring.
