For almost a month, Ruby the Goat became one of the most important story threads on the Chesterfield Group page. With her missing left eye, Texas ear tag, and her inability to bleat, locals fell in love with her saga. Ruby’s story began in the summer of 2021 when she was noticed wandering about Route 9 and became dubbed “The Route 9 Traveler”. How she got there and when she arrived is unknown. In August, Elizabeth Walker, Margo Bergeron, and Carl Chickering finally corralled her and moved her to a new home with Craig Faulkner on Reynolds Road in Westmoreland (just north of the West Chesterfield town line). There she resided with her new buddy Niblet and some sheep. That was, until Nov 23, 2021. Faulkner’s sheep bumped open the inside barn door, enabling Ruby and Niblet to make their grand escape.
Rudy the Kim Kardashian of Goats
Facebook is often accused of fueling controversy between groups, but in Chesterfield it is also a window into happenings within our small town. Thanks to Erin Scaggs, Chesterfield has its own group page. It is a place to post events, news, opportunities, questions, but no political banter (outside of local politics) and rudeness is not allowed. It is a link among the residents in town, such as keeping track of an assortment of lost pets, including a 70-pound, 34-inch, brick-colored goat who went on the lam.
Again, it was Elizabeth Walker and Margo Bergeron who came to the rescue. A request for assistance was posted by Walker on the Chesterfield Facebook group page. She included tips on Ruby’s personality (very skittish, timid but fast) and advice on how to capture her. Potential capturers needed to let Ruby do the approaching. But she said Ruby wouldn’t approach unless the person knelt down on their knees (at goat level),while waving a bit of enticing sweet feed. Walker also assured the readers that Ruby would be immediately retrieved upon capture. She asked to confine Ruby in a secure space, like a barn or garage.
And so began the cooperative search and several encounters. Ruby’s first sighting was by hunters near Atherton Hill Road and Poocham in Westmoreland; it appeared that she was heading down the mountain. She was spotted at Norcross Landing in West Chesterfield, 6.5 miles away from her former home. Then came a sighting on Welcome Hill (where she was almost apprehended). On November 29, she was seen standing in the middle of Merrifield Road (located between Madam Sherri Forest and Pisgah). However, for the next couple weeks there were no sightings, but lots of encouraging support was written during this time by Ruby’s followers on Facebook.
As the days dragged on, Walker and Bergeron searched from dawn to dusk, posting 500 missing-goat posters as they went. The posters covered all the entrances to Pisgah State Park and visible areas along the roads. They contacted the snowmobile club, Friends of Pisgah, and local police departments, all the while maintaining a string of updates on Facebook. From the responses, it appeared that the entire town was searching for the elusive one-eyed goat.
Then finally a breakthrough! Margie Janiczek contacted Walker on Dec.17th. She spotted Ruby near Welcome Hill. With her husband, Jim, they followed the wandering goat back toward Route 9. While driving home on Route 9, Sean Condon noticed what he first thought was a dog running along the road. Realizing it was indeed a goat, he pulled over, hopped out of his truck, and pursued it. Then, began a goat and man chase into the woods and back out into the road. In the meantime, other cars were stopping. One contacted Walker and the police. Finally, Condon, who had never wrangled a goat before, finally caught Ruby by the horns. Another motorist was able to put a leash around Ruby’s neck, but Condon refused to let go of Ruby’s horns until she was securely confined in his truck. (Below Selfie in Truck)
Ironically, Condon was unaware of Ruby’s story and was slightly confused during the capture when passersby would yell “Ruby” out their windows. It was after a fellow-stopped motorist related Ruby’s story to Condon that he began to understand just who he had by the horns. When later interviewed by the Keene Sentinel, he stated, “I just thought it was a regular goat…. I got the Kim Kardashian of Goats!” He later added, “You don’t realize how out of shape you are until you jump out of your car to try to chase a nimble one-eyed goat…Basically, we both gave up after that 17-minute excruciating jog.”
Walker arrived to a scene of stopped cars in the midst of heavy traffic and police lights. Thinking the worst, she was greatly relieved to find Ruby safely confined in Condon’s truck. Condon had contacted someone he knew at Thomas Industries in Spofford. The company gladly provided Ruby a heated garage with lots of hay and water for her first night back in captivity. Walker and Bergeron, now Ruby’s co-owners, spent the next day procuring supplies for Ruby’s new forever home.
Walker’s last Facebook posting in the adventure was a fitting tribute to all the folks who had supported the 24-day long search for a one-eyed goat. In true form, the responses were jubilant. T-shirts were made proclaiming “Ruby the Town’s Mascot”. Some folks proposed the Town Report be dedicated to her. Who could argue with Ruby’s celebrity status when the December 21, 2021 Keene Sentinel’s front-page headline story was about Ruby and included Condon’s selfie with his captive prize?
