[music plays]>>Kelly Runyon: If you happen to travel in Shelby County near Findlay and Windsor, you're bound to stop at this unique attraction.

It's so unique, there's only a handful of them in the world.

Creators David and Marsha Johnson say goats love it, and people do, too.

Johnson is the creator of a 31-foot goat tower, appropriately named the Tower of Baaa.

The Paw Report goes on the road for this episode, so stay with us.

[music plays] Production of the Paw Report is brought to you by... >>Rameen Karbassioon: Dave's Decorating Center is a proud supporter of the Paw Report on WEIU.

Dave's Decorating Center features the Mohawk SmartStrand Silk Forever Clean carpet.

Dave's Decorating Center, authorized Mohawk Color Center, in Charleston.

Okaw Vet Clinic in Tuscola and Dr. Sally Foote remind you to properly take care of your pets, and are happy to help support the Paw Report on WEIU.

Okaw Vet Clinic, located at 140 West Sale Street, in Downtown Tuscola.

More information available at okawvetclinic.com.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Paw Report.

And do we have a treat for you.

We are in Shelby County, between Windsor and Findlay, on what's known as the Goat Tower Farm.

And this is quite the story.

And we're joined by David Johnson and his wife Marcia, to share this neat story and this neat, unique attraction behind the both of you.

Thank you for joining us, and more importantly, thank you for inviting us to the Goat Tower Farm, as you like to call it.

>>Marcia Johnson: Okay, you're welcome.

>>Kelly Runyon: You know, my first question is, I saw some pictures of this tower, and I thought, what in the world is that?

David, what is a goat tower, and why in the world did you decide to put it on your farm here?

>>David Johnson: Well, there's a long story behind it.

I enjoy wine, and I subscribe to a wine magazine published in the U.K., called Decanter.

And in one of the publications, it had a picture of a goat tower that was in South Africa, and it belonged to the Fairview Winery, and the people's name was the Charles Back family.

And they got the idea from, when Charles Back was a younger person, he got the idea when they toured Portugal, because they saw a goat tower in Portugal.

So, that's the original goat tower, is in Portugal.

And so, they copied it pretty much like it was, although that tower was stone and it had wooden steps.

And these newer towers are, of course, made out of brick or stone and have concrete steps.

And then, so the first tower of Portugal, the second tower was built in South Africa.

Ours is the third tower.

The fourth tower was built in Norway, and it's an exact copy of the one in Fairview.

And then, there's one in Argentina.

>>Kelly Runyon: So, you're thumbing through this magazine, you see that, and you think, "I have to have that."

>>David Johnson: Well yes, because I was raised on a large livestock farm, and I enjoy working with animals.

And my kids had a goat for a pet, they make wonderful animals for pets.

And so, we happened to, you know, see these Saanan goats were Swiss mountain milk goats.

And so, we didn't have any mountains here, so we built a tower for them to climb on.

So, they're happy.

We have happy goats.

>>Kelly Runyon: How did you build this?

How did you, I know you had some help.

>>Marcia Johnson: Yes, the man who did the bricklaying for the house, Jack Cloe, who was from Herrick.

He was a retired bricklayer, he came out of retirement.

And when we were all done with all the brick work around here, Dave had one more project for him.

He showed him the picture, and Jack's response was... >>David Johnson: He said, "You're the craziest guy I know."

>>Kelly Runyon: So, how long did it take?

And all the bricks are different.

>>David Johnson: The bricks were handmade brick from North Carolina.

And the bricks in themselves are an interesting story because, as light changes and teh weather conditions, they have different hues to them.

And also, when they shipped the brick in, we had several trailer loads of them, we also ended up with some red velvet ants.

And they look like a little bee, you know, a honey bee, only they've got red velvet.

>>Marcia Johnson: On their bodies.

>>David Johnson: And so, they're still around, we see them every once in a while running around here.

>>Marcia Johnson: And skinks came with the bricks.

>>David Johnson: And we also ended up with a skink, and apparently she was a pregnant skink because all of a sudden, we have lots of skinks running around here.

In fact, there was one on-- >>Marcia Johnson: They're a little lizard.

>>Kelly Runyon: Oh, okay.

>>Marcia Johnson: With blue tails.

>>David Johnson: With blue tails.

And so, I just, last week we saw one.

He came up on the porch to say hi, and laid there.

Of course, I don't know if it was female or male.

I didn't check that.

>>Kelly Runyon: So, you get the tower done.

I'm interested in the top of it, because the top is...

I mean, obviously, the steps around it are a focal point, but so is the top, the roof of it.

What is the purpose behind the tall steeple-ish structure?

>>David Johnson: That's just kind of the way the architectural design was in the old days, with their steep roofs on towers, and so forth.

So we, like I said, we copied the one in South Africa, and that's what it looked like.

It had a roof like that.

So, Jack Cloe is the one that laid the brick in the steps.

>>Marcia Johnson: And his sons helped him.

>>David Johnson: And he got his sons to help.

And so, then I made the frame for the roof.

And then, I took that frame up to Decatur, and I think it was... >>Marcia Johnson: Craftmasters did the copper work.

>>David Johnson: ... Did the copper work on it.

And so, then we made the top so it will rotate up there because we, there's a flap in it, we can go up there with a telescope and look at the stars.

And you know, we're working on our 20-year projects right now.

And so, this one's coming up here pretty quick, so I've got to put a motor on it to rotate the top, because it's on a track.

>>Kelly Runyon: What is it that actually makes up the tubular part of the tower?

The palace, the goat palace.

>>Marcia Johnson: Well, it's the bricks, and they're set in this way.

So, and then what he did is, he poured concrete floor, and then took concrete and mortar, and then kind of smoothed out the sides so it isn't the rough brick.

But it's, each compartment-- >>Kelly Runyon: And that'’’s inside the compartments.

And you call them apartments, correct?

>>Marcia Johnson: Or compartments, yeah.

>>David Johnson: Yeah, there's six of them, there's three on each side.

>>Kelly Runyon: And then live in there, they sleep in there, they visit in there.

>>Marcia Johnson: Right, so they, yeah they come out about 6:30 in the morning, and wait for me over on the pad, watching for me to come give them a little bit of food for the morning.

And in the winter, more, because there's no pasture.

But yes, they... >>Kelly Runyon: So, and you've got a story behind all of your goats, and they're all named.

And we're going to get to that.

But I guess my question is, you get a goat, and you put them in the pasture, and they look up at this tower.

And they're thinking, "Hmm, why is this structure in my pasture?"

How do you get them to-- >>Marcia Johnson: They automatically.

In fact, we had a baby goat, just the second day old, climbed up to the top of the tower without mom.

He went up.

But then, he got up there, and he started crying because he didn't want to come down.

It's easy to go up, but it's really harder to come down.

So, he cried.

Dave went up and got him, carried him down.

He went right back up, so Dave went up-- >>David Johnson: The next day.

>>Marcia Johnson: Yeah, and made him walk down.

So, he walked behind him and made him walk down.

And so, then he had it figured out.

>>Kelly Runyon: So, there's no training.

It's just, it's... you put them in the litter box, and they know how to use the litter box.

Put them in front of a goat tower, and they know how to walk up and down.

>>David Johnson: You betcha.

Yeah, and also, if your car's parked out there, they'll be on top of it, too.

>>Kelly Runyon: They're curious animals.

>>David Johnson: Yes.

>>Kelly Runyon: You said that the goats were Saanan?

>>Marcia Johnson: Saanan.

>>Kelly Runyon: Saanan goats.

Tell me about their breed.

>>David Johnson: Well, the Saanan'’’s are a Swiss dairy goat.

And they, of course, were raised in the mountains.

And they produce, of course, the Swiss use them for food, and milk, and cheese.

And the nomads also traveled with the goats because they were easy to maintain, because they'll eat anything.

They prefer wood and leaves, and stuff like that, is their favorite.

And so, you know, the nomads or the gypsies traveling, and they've got food, and milk, and cheese and stuff.

And they didn't have to-- >>Marcia Johnson: They don't eat a lot, really.

>>David Johnson: They don't eat a lot, so they could graze along the, you know-- >>Marcia Johnson: And they don't drink that much water.

>>David Johnson: And they don't take much water, so they're very low maintenance.

>>Kelly Runyon: They're milk goats, too.

You don't milk them?

You did at one time, Marcia?

>>Marcia Johnson: I did a little bit.

We had one that had, after we, before we had bought her, her kid died.

And so, she was in milk, and we had to dry her up.

So, to do that I milked her for a while, and then gradually she dried up eventually.

But I don't think it's something I want to do on a daily basis for a long period of time.

I didn't mind doing it for a little bit.

I made some cheese, and we drank the milk.

And it was very good, but no.

>>David Johnson: I had, when I was being raised on a farm, we milked.

And I didn't tarry to that too much.

Have you had any, when I think of the concrete steps that go up to the top, I think of, hmm, what happens when the winter weather sets in, and it gets icy.

I have, you know, this fear you look out your window, and you see one of your goats just sliding down.

do you ever have any accidents?

>>Marcia Johnson: There was an ice storm, and we had, some of the goats came out, got out.

And most of the time, we keep them in the back shed when the weather is bad.

And I literally close off the upper compartments in the winter.

They only get the bottom three for the winter, just in case that happens.

Because, one time he and I, I had to go up with an ice scraper because this one would not come out.

She was just too scared.

And so, I learned my lesson.

You do not let them in if you know you're going to get ice.

And close them up in the shed because it's, yeah, it is kind of terrifying.

I had to go up on my knees, scraping, because it was that bad.

>>Kelly Runyon: How tall is the tower?

>>David Johnson: It's 31 feet tall.

And I used a flame thrower to melt this ice off the steps.

It works great.

It beats scraping the, yeah, I said no way, not trying to do that.

>>Marcia Johnson: So, we learned you don't, you watch the weather and make sure you don't leave the goats in if it's going to get icy.

>>David Johnson: It's 31 feet tall.

It's the world's largest goat tower.

>>Kelly Runyon: This one.

>>David Johnson: Yes.

>>Marcia Johnson: It got the largest because we tried to scale it off of the one at Fairview Winery, because in communicating with them, of course, measurements are different in Europe than in South Africa.

So, they tried to correspond with us, and it didn't quite work.

So, we scaled it off of a goat, their goat standing on the tower.

Well, their goat must have been a different size, because when he and Jack, the bricklayer, got to, because Fairview only has four compartments, so two on each side.

They got that high, and the thing was too squat, too...

So, they had to do one more whole wrap to make it look in proportion.

So, that's how it ended up being the world's largest.

>>Kelly Runyon: World's largest.

And you know, the goats are part of your family.

I can tell that you've been out in the field with them.

And what I think is interesting is they all have names, and they all have a story, one in particular.

So, take me through their names, and I want to hear some stories about these.

>>Marcia Johnson: Right, it's the one right out here, Queen B, or Bella is her name.

And we were in Chicago.

And I stayed in Chicago, and Dave was going to go look at a baby goat that I found about 2-months old, had just been weaned.

And it was in Kankakee, so he was supposed to stop by and look at the goat.

So, he stops in.

Go ahead and, I wasn't with him, but... >>David Johnson: I stopped at this farm around the Kankakee area to look at this goat.

And so, when I got there he had about 40 goats.

And so, I went up to the fence to look at the goats, and this Bella came right up.

And she said, "I want to come home with you."

And so, we bickered over the price for a while.

And I said, "Okay, do you..." I don't think I want to go back home and get a pickup truck, and then come back to get a goat.

I said, "Do you have some plastic?"

He said, "Yeah, I've got some plastic."

So, we put plastic down in the back seat of the car, and we put Bella in the back seat.

She was a little nervous for a while, but not very long.

And she put her feet up on the console and looked through the windshield.

And she was a real good travel companion.

She nibbled on my ear once in a while, and you know, didn't give me any static about how I was driving.

And so-- >>Marcia Johnson: She's a better back seat driver than I am.

>>David Johnson: Right, and so she got, we got along fine.

And then, the people on the interstate, they just went crazy when they saw a goat, you know, looking out the windshield.

>>Kelly Runyon: Did they do a double take?

>>David Johnson: Yeah, oh yeah.

And the kids, if they had kids in the car, they thought that was just crazy.

"Ah!"

you know.

>>Kelly Runyon: And you have others, too.

>>David Johnson: Yeah.

>>Kelly Runyon: So, Queen B, Bella.

>>David Johnson: Yeah, and she's the important goat because she got to ride in the BMW.

And she knows it, and she also lets everyone else know about it.

>>Marcia Johnson: So, Remus had been here.

He had a brother named Romulus.

And so, Remus had been here.

So, we put Bella in with him.

We had had some other goats.

They were old also, and they have died.

But so, then it's Remus and Queen B.

And then, we got the other ones through the state fair, different people over there who were showing goats, to kind of round out the herd a little bit.

>>Kelly Runyon: But you've noticed they, they're friendly with each other.

I mean, they kind of partner up.

And tell me about how that works with all the compartments.

>>Marcia Johnson: Yeah, up on the top, it's Remus and Bella.

So, they get the top penthouse.

Yeah, and then Delilah and Rudy, who were raised together, they bunk in with each other.

And then, there's Love Dove, and she was from down near Effingham, and she's kind of solo.

I was hoping she'd team up with Bella, but that didn't happen, so.

>>Kelly Runyon: How'd you come up with Love Dove?

>>Marcia Johnson: That was actually the name that she was given, because she'’’s got papers that, because the people had shown her.

And so, she's a registered goat, so that was their name that they gave her.

And she really is, she's the sweetest one of the bunch.

So, they had, and it was their daughter's really special pet.

She was pretty upset that her mom sold her.

But we love her.

>>Kelly Runyon: You said bunch.

At one time, you've got five goats now, but at one time you had a lot more, but-- >>Marcia Johnson: 37.

>>Kelly Runyon: That kind of dwindled, how come?

>>David Johnson: Well, we basically, we started with 11 goats.

And we had a rapid population explosion for a couple years.

And that's how we got, like over a three-year period.

And so, we finally figured out what was causing it.

So, we sold the billy, and now we're down to five goats.

[laughs] >>Marcia Johnson: But, and also, you couldn't keep letting them breed because a lot of them were then related to each other.

So, it was best to get rid of the billy, and let everything.

>>David Johnson: Yeah, 37 was a pretty good bunch.

But they played among themselves.

They love to head-butt.

They'll just butt one another in the head, you know.

>>Marcia Johnson: And rear up.

>>David Johnson: And then, which goat is it that runs against the shed?

>>Marcia Johnson: Well, that was Cutie.

>>David Johnson: Cutie, she would run at that shed, and she'd go up there about, oh, six or seven feet, and then... >>Marcia Johnson: Yeah, just do a little flip off.

>>David Johnson: A little flip off.

>>Marcia Johnson: Almost like swimmers, when they go against the wall and do a flip.

She would do that against the wall.

It was the cutest thing.

>>Kelly Runyon: What's the funniest story that you can remember from the goat tower?

You probably have more than one, but if you're looking out your window, and you see the tower, and you just shake your head and start laughing.

>>Marcia Johnson: Oh, when you get an impasse.

One's going up, and one's going down, and neither one wants to give.

And they just meet there, and they stand there for a long time, until somebody finally decides, "I'm going to go this way and go that way."

Also, when I go clean out the tower, Bella comes right in the compartment with me as I'm, you know, sweeping and cleaning out.

Yep, she's right in there.

>>Kelly Runyon: She's nosy.

>>Marcia Johnson: Oh, yeah.

None of the rest, just her.

She'll come up there with me.

>>Kelly Runyon: David, what about your favorite story from the tower?

>>David Johnson: Well, that's a good question.

I've got a lot of-- >>Kelly Runyon: One that I stumped you with?

>>David Johnson: Iv'e got a lot of favorite stories on that tower.

>>Marcia Johnson: Well, the one, one of them jumped off from where Remus is, right there.

Jumped off the tower.

>>David Johnson: Yeah, that was an interesting one.

>>Marcia Johnson: No reason, either.

She just did.

>>David Johnson: And they jump.

They jump off of there, but not that high.

That's the highest one that ever went off.

Didn't hurt her.

>>Marcia Johnson: No, she sort of stumbled a little bit, dusted herself off, and went up.

>>David Johnson: Oh, I think the interesting stories about the tower is because we have so many people come here and visit us, you know.

And we enjoy the people.

We've had all walks of life, and all over from different countries and states, and everything else.

So, we get a lot of people in there.

And it's really enjoyable for us because we live out here in the sticks, and we get lonely, you know.

And so, we have these people come in and keeping us happy.

>>Kelly Runyon: I want to hear some of these stories.

>>David Johnson: Okay.

>>Marcia Johnson: Well, the most recent one, they were from... >>David Johnson: We had eight Hungarians here this week.

And they were visiting a factory in Mattoon.

And so, a lot of the people will stay out in the road and take pictures because they don't-- >>Marcia Johnson: They know it's private property.

>>David Johnson: They don't want to come up here.

So, I happened to be coming from another place over there, and I saw these, you know, eight men out in the road.

And so, I stopped, and I said, "Hey, you guys, why don't you go up that lane and go in there?

And you can go back there and get goatarized.

You're welcome," you know?

>>Marcia Johnson: Only one spoke English.

>>David Johnson: Only one spoke English.

And so, they came up here, and we had a ball with them, really.

You know, he was interpreting, and they'd laugh, and having a big time.

That was an enjoyable one.

Then, we had a group of young, I'd say college age, kids from Des Moines, Iowa.

And they happened to see it on the internet, and so they jumped in the car, five of them, and they drove, what, three hours or more.

>>Marcia Johnson: Yeah, six hours.

>>David Johnson: Six hours.

>>Kelly Runyon: They saw it on the internet, and just drove-- >>David Johnson: Just got in the car and came out here.

There they were.

>>Marcia Johnson: They had a little trouble finding it.

They ended up down at a campground down in Shelbyville.

But then, they eventually located it, so.

>>David Johnson: And so, they, it's interesting, too, Bella loves to catch men with their shorts on.

And she sticks her horn underneath them and gets them off-balance, and they fall over, you know.

That's hilarious.

That is a funny story about the tower, I think.

>>Marcia Johnson: Or if you're, if she comes up behind you, she's really good at butting the butt.

Yeah, she loves to push me when I'm cleaning out feed bowls.

She'll come up behind me and give me a little push.

>>Kelly Runyon: Other guest stories?

>>David Johnson: Well, we've had a guy fly in from Washington.

>>Marcia Johnson: Yeah, the state of Washington.

>>David Johnson: And he wanted to build a goat tower-- >>Marcia Johnson: As a tourist attraction for this one community because they were needing some kind of a... >>David Johnson: Attraction.

>>Marcia Johnson: Yeah, so he came all the way out and picked up a friend in Chicago, and they drove down.

And he took lots of measurements and pictures.

I don't know if he ever decided-- >>David Johnson: No, he never did.

He found out what it costs, so.

>>Marcia Johnson: Yeah.

>>Kelly Runyon: So, I would imagine that people, when they drive by and you actually talk to them, they might think that you're kind of crazy.

>>David Johnson: Well, that's probably true.

I've heard that before.

>>Marcia Johnson: Yeah, why would you-- >>Kelly Runyon: Why would you build a goat tower?

You probably get that question asked to you over and over.

>>David Johnson: That's true.

>>Kelly Runyon: So, what makes you happy about the goat tower, both of you?

>>David Johnson: Well, first of all, it's a folly.

>>Marcia Johnson: Do you know what a...

It's an English folly.

Follies are garden structures that really don't have any purpose.

So, that's the definition of a folly.

So, that definitely is a folly.

It has no good reason for being there, other than the goats do enjoy it.

And it gives us pleasure.

That's what I look at out my kitchen window.

And so, I watch them, while they watch me.

>>David Johnson: Well, it's, I would have never guessed in a million years that it would have been such a huge tourist attraction.

And we didn't build it as a tourist attraction.

We built it just, you know, one of those crazy things-- >>Marcia Johnson: There was some leftover brick in the house, and I think he just sort of was saying, "What are we going to do with this leftover brick?"

Then, he sees that picture.

And then, we ended up having to get more brick anyway, because it took a lot more than... >>David Johnson: Yeah, there's 5,000 brick in that tower.

A small house, you know, a smaller house has that many bricks in it.

And they're all handmade brick from North Carolina.

And Jack, when he was laying all this brick around, he said, "Those things are like laying footballs, because none of them is the same size, and they're crinkled all up," you know.

>>Marcia Johnson: He was a very good, precise bricklayer.

And so, here he's working with these somewhat irregular bricks.

It didn't make him happy.

[laughs] He didn't like that.

>>David Johnson: He was one of the best bricklayers that I ever had the opportunity to meet.

And he was just super at putting that together.

And it was, actually it's not an easy job to put one of those up.

And he, you know, I always wondered how do you keep it straight?

How do you keep, you know, the brick all the same diameter around the tower?

Well, I found that out.

What they do is they build a scaffolding, and then they put like plywood-- >>Marcia Johnson: Masonite, that bends.

>>David Johnson: ... That goes, and it bends.

So, they've got this cylinder, and they just keep moving it up.

And they just keep laying the brick around that cylinder, and just keep going up until they get done.

>>Marcia Johnson: And then, as you're putting the brick, then you're putting the stairs in, as you keep going around, putting the stairs in, so.

>>Kelly Runyon: Well, we so appreciate you letting us come to visit the Goat Tower Farm.

It's been so fun.

And I can't wait to get a little closer to the tower and say hi to Bella.

David and Marcia, thank you so much.

And thank you for joining us for this episode of the Paw Report, on the road in Shelby County, at the goat tower.

We'll see you next time.If you're a veterinarian, trainer, groomer, specialist, rescue organization, or shelter that would like to partner with the Paw Report by providing expert guests for the show, please contact us by emailing weiu@weiu.net, or call 217-581-5956.

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More information about the show is also available 24/7 on our website at weiu.net, under the television tab.Have a video or a photo of your pet doing something funny or absolutely adorable?

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For more information about how to get that video or photo to us, email or call 217-581-5956.Production of the Paw Report is brought to you by... >>Rameen Karbassioon: Okaw Vet Clinic in Tuscola and Dr. Sally Foote remind you to properly take care of your pets, and are happy to help support the Paw Report on WEIU.

Okaw Vet Clinic, located at 140 West Sale Street, in Downtown Tuscola.

More information available at okawvetclinic.com.

Dave's Decorating Center is a proud supporter of the Paw Report on WEIU.

Dave's Decorating Center features the Mohawk SmartStrand Silk Forever Clean carpet.

Dave's Decorating Center, authorized Mohawk Color Center, in Charleston.

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