For many students, LSU can be a well of opportunities. From undergraduate research programs to extracurricular dance clubs, there are countless ways for students to gain new and valuable experiences on campus. One such experience happens to be meeting goats on the front lawn of the LSU Dairy Store.
The Dairy Store hosted Groovin’ with the Goats, a pop-up petting zoo where students could gather to pet and feed four young goats, on Friday, Jan. 23. Though some students knew about the event ahead of time, others simply passed by the animals on their way to class and decided to drop by for a quick hello.
Nico Lewis, a freshman animal sciences major, said he had just finished a quiz and left class when he saw the goats outside.
“I definitely got a dopamine boost from it,” Lewis said. “I saw them out here, and I immediately came out because it was like, ‘wow, they’re here.’”
The stars of the show were Edna, Laura, Pickle and Annabelle, young goats, or kids, from the LSU AgCenter Ben Hur Research Farm located on Ben Hur Road just a couple miles from the main campus. At only nine months old, the kids are not yet fully matured, but in a few months’ time the little goats may finally grow into their big personalities.
“They’re very friendly. They’re very curious,” said Dr. Cathy Williams, a professor in the LSU School of Animal Sciences. “They’ll come up to you and check you out. If they don’t want you to pet them, then they’ll walk away.”
When the goats weren’t munching on clovers or playfully shoving each other, they were going up to students for head scratches and handfuls of food. One goat even tried to snack on a student’s backpack – she was sadly interrupted and forced to settle for hay instead.
For some people, this was their first time ever seeing a goat in person. Part of the Dairy Store’s mission with pop-up petting zoos like this one is to expose students to animals they may have never interacted with before and raise awareness about the role these animals play in agriculture.
“So what we try to do at the Dairy Store is be the doorstep for agriculture on campus,” said Nick Uzee, the operations and outreach manager of the Dairy Store. “So being able to expose campus to animal agriculture in a meaningful and impactful way.”
The team does this by hosting similar events throughout the semester. In the past, the group has introduced LSU’s campus to chickens, cows, pigs and more, and Uzee is currently organizing another event where students can play with ducklings. Still, Uzee hopes to bring even more exotic species to campus down the road.
“Who knows what we’ll have in the future,” he said. “I might bring llamas, fingers crossed.”
Events like this also help educate students on these farm animals, breaking down any misconceptions they might have. Dr. Williams took Groovin’ with the Goats as an opportunity to quiz some students on goat trivia.
“How many stomachs does a goat have?” she asked one group of friends.
It was a trick question: goats only have one stomach, but it is made up of four compartments to help them digest fibrous plants like grass and clover.
Sarah Owen, a sophomore mass communication and sociology double major, appreciated the educational side of the event and said that Groovin’ with the Goats could help disprove some of the negative stereotypes people may have about goats.
“Goats, I feel, are often misrepresented because people think they’re scary, but they have a bad reputation,” Owen said. “I personally love goats. People sometimes think they’re demonic because they have rectangular pupils, but that’s not true.”
Groovin’ with the Goats drew a big crowd, with students coming and going between classes. Two of the goats stayed inside the pen while the other two roamed around the lawn on harnesses, allowing students to interact with them one on one. Despite some minor sassiness from the goats here and there, they were generally very curious about the students around them and happily approached them.
“They tend to be one of the most personable animals and enjoy people the most out of most of our farm animal species,” Uzee said. “They love a person, especially if you have treats.”
For updates and information about future events like Groovin’ with the Goats, follow the LSU Dairy Store’s official Instagram.
