Victoria woman raises orphaned goat, brings her to work
There’s always something to do when you work on a farm.
"No matter what the day, it’s early hours." Claudia says. "Long days."
Being the manager of the Beacon Hill Children’s Farm means caring for a community of animals that includes a big pig and nine adolescent goats.
But in the off-season, when there are no children visiting, you’ll find one kid working.
"I do have a four-legged helper," Claudia smiles as a young goat bleats at her. "Her name is Rosie, short for Rosemary."
This morning, Rosie is beginning her work day by jumping on an Adirondack chair, requesting a rest.
"This is my chair to have my coffee break," Claudia says. "But Rosie thinks it’s her chair."
What the little goat lacks in work ethic, she makes up for with enthusiasm. When Claudia walks away from the chair to start cleaning one of the pens, Rosie leaps to the ground and chases after her.
"It makes things happier and easier having her by my side," Claudia smiles.
Wherever Claudia goes, Rosie follows. Whatever Claudia does, Rosie watches. And, like co-workers do, throughout the day they carry on conversations.
When Rosie bleats at Claudia, Claudia translates what she thinks the goat is saying and answers back.
They seem to understand each other – which isn’t surprising, they’ve known each other since Rosie was born.
"Rosie lost her real mom, her goat mom, when she was just two days old," Claudia says.
Seeing as there was no hope of Rosie’s survival without a mom, Claudia brought the baby goat home.
After months of bottle-feeding, couch cuddling, and diaper wearing, Rosie started flourishing.
"It transformed me, a bit, into a mom," Claudia smiles.
A mom who comforted Rosie when she struggled to connect with her peers, a mom who encouraged the baby while she learned to act like the other goats, a mom who celebrated her kid when she finally made her first best friend.
"She came into my life and made it more perfect," Claudia smiles, sitting on their chair, petting Rosie on her lap. "It’s the joy of my life at the moment."
Which is why these moments, when mother and daughter turned co-workers finally take their well-earned coffee break, couldn’t be more wonderful.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.