Friends of the Bilberry Goats

06/11/2025

Bilberry Goat Herd - Photo: Copyright M. Hickey April 2008

Bilberry Goat Herd 2008.

The Beautiful herd of Bilberry goats, with their long glossy coats, confident stance and renowned handlebar horns.

06/11/2025

Bilberry Goat Herd 2008.

The Beautiful herd of Bilberry goats, with their long glossy coats, confident stance and renowned handlebar horns.

11/08/2025

11/08/2025

Join us online for our next Hare's Corner Clinic on Wildflower Meadow Management with Sharon Parr & Phoebe O’Brien at 8pm, Monday, August 11th. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4I8iWIrTSu--YL1KyDcYgg

Free and open to all. The Hare's Corner Clinics are funded by Lifes2Good Foundation.

These clinics are monthly online sessions, held on the second Monday of each month, focusing on practical tips and Q&A around creating and maintaining different habitats for nature. The session will include a short presentation by a specialist on a specific habitat, followed by an open forum discussion where you’re invited to bring your questions. You can also submit your questions in advance or suggest other themes by emailing [email protected].

Upcoming schedule:
📅 September 8th – Native Trees: Seed Collection and Propagation
📅 October 13th – Wildlife Hedge Planting

Recording of our previous Clinic on 'Caring for your Pond' is available on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/oJjFw3-VWxk?feature=shared

11/08/2025

**Curled Majesty on the Edge**
*Painting by Esther Heffernan | Copyright BGHT*

This proud Bilberry goat, crowned with spiraling horns, stands as a sentinel of a fading wilderness. His gaze is steady, his stance defiant—an echo of generations that once roamed freely across Bilberry Rock.

But even beauty this bold cannot shield against encroachment.

Each twist of his horns tells a tale of survival, of battles fought not with hooves but with silence—against shrinking habitat, forgotten heritage, and the slow erosion of wild spaces.

Let this portrait stir more than admiration. Let it stir action.

Share. Speak. Stand with the herd.

09/08/2025

A Portrait of Promise – But for How Long?
Painting by Esther Heffernan | Copyright BGHT

This young buckling, born of King Puck and a senior nanny, stands as a symbol of resilience and heritage. His coat gleams with the wild beauty of Bilberry Rock, and his eyes hold the spark of a future leader.

But behind the brushstrokes lies a deeper truth: his home is vanishing. The Bilberry Goat Herd has roamed these hills for centuries, yet each year, their habitat shrinks. The rock they call home is not just stone and scrub—it is sanctuary, history, and lifeblood.

This painting captures more than a goat—it captures a question:
Will this buckling grow to lead a herd, or will he be the last to remember the way?

Speak up. Share this story. Help raise awareness about the need to protect Bilberry Rock and its wild inhabitants.

08/08/2025

❤️🦔 SO many hedgehogs, we have run out of wet food. If you are able to make any donation, it would be very much appreciated by the hogs and Ginny ☺️
🦔They need: Meaty dog or cat food in jelly or loaf (not in gravy and not fishy)
Donation drop off points: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3411882832225117&set=a.1269782346435187
Thank you so much 😊

🦔Gorgeous hog is Citrus 💛

🦔❤️

08/08/2025

08/08/2025

*Update: the hoglet was taken to the Hogspital. No news on it yet 😊 (admin 💚🦔)
———————-
❤️🦔”I saw a post on Facebook about someone who had found a hoglet in grass in daytime, asking for help in Milford. There was no comment section, so I couldn't help and then I couldn't find it again...
If you find a Hedgehog in daytime it needs help. If it's a hoglet it needs urgent help...
Call us PLEASE leave a message we both work and can't always get to phone. We will contact you as soon as possible. And if you are able to get it to us that is very helpful.
Thank you.” (Ginny) 😌

Photo is for attention, it is not the hoglet mentioned (admin 🦔💚)

🦔❤️

08/08/2025

The Ritual of the Rut

By kind permission - Diary of a Welfare Officer of the Bilberry Goat Herd - Copyright

Photo: by renowned artist Esther Heffernan - By kind permission - BGHT - Copyright

The Rut- Mating season

All the goats were on Bilberry Rock today as I made the last check on them at around 4pm this evening. The wind was westerly, blowing my scent away from them so that I would not be detected. There was a lot of activity going on with the goats.. It was the rutng season. I stood behind a blackberry bush to observe them.

King Puck was with four junior pucks (his lieutenants). He was organizing a fight between the junior pucks to pick the strongest of the four. Standing on one side, away from them was Queen Nanny, with the rest of the nannes and kids. One male yearling broke loose and ran to join the puck fight, but he was quickly ushered back to his place by Queen Nanny. King Puck bleated loudly.

The junior pucks head butted with their heavy handlebar horns. Every head butt reverberated through the air. King Puck was the referee and each of the four pucks were put through their paces. At the end of the fights, each puck was pared off with a nanny. King Puck did not fight. As leader of the herd, he could choose a nanny of his choice. He went missing for three days and I wondered where he was. One of the senior nannies was also missing. Leo, security man in the brewery contacted me to say that King Puck was with a nanny at the back of the brewery and both seemed to be ok.

It was a privilege to see this goat ruting ceremony taking place. It was fascinating to observe and it gave me a greater understanding of their social behaviour.
​
The following spring, King Pucks offspring was a strong and sturdy little brown and white male kid. A future leader of the Herd.