Thank Goodness for Ear Tags!

I’ll say it—they all look alike to me. I know, I know, that’s probably not very maternal of me, but come on… when you’ve got a dozen wooly little lambs all bouncing around like popcorn in a hot pan, it’s hard to tell who’s who. Fortunately, their moms are better at this job. They just sniff a backside and go, “Yep, that one’s mine.”

I, on the other hand, do not have that superpower. Nor do I have any interest in getting down in the dirt to conduct a rear-end roll call. That’s where ear tags come in. Bright, bold, numbered, and blessedly bum-free. Not at all weird.

Today was one of those rare, beautiful sunny days where the animals were actually calm for five whole minutes. Every lamb and goat kid in the place decided to crash out in the sunshine. They looked like a puddle of warm biscuits, soft and slightly lumpy. It was the perfect moment to sneak a photo—something sweet and peaceful to prove they’re not always hooligans.

But of course, the goats ruined it.

They saw me kneel down with the camera and immediately leapt to their hooves like, “Wait! Is she doing something without us?” Because heaven forbid I try to document a quiet moment without their fuzzy little mugs front and center. So they thundered over like a pack of short-legged paparazzi. Not to be outdone, one of the bottle lambs came galloping behind them like she was late for roll call.

By the time I lifted the camera, the nap pile had scattered, the moment was gone, and I had a close-up of a goat nose smudging my lens. Again. Just like my own kids when they were little—anytime you tried to capture a sweet, still memory, they immediately turned it into a circus act.

I was able to sneak back later and managed to catch a few of them once they finally settled down again—because apparently, patience is a farm skill you have to practice even through the chaos. At least I can tell who’s who this time… thanks to those little numbered tags and not having to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong.

Farm Rule #37: If it’s quiet, they’re either napping… or staging a coup.