Goats!

If you have some open space behind your house, why not fill it with a couple of goats? That seems to be our philosophy. They are much cheaper than horses, and low maintenance to the extreme! You can't ride them, of course, but what they lack in utility they make up for with their quirky charm.

Crazy Kids

Old cartoons would lead you to believe that goats will eat anything, including old tires and tin cans. This is only half true. There are plenty of things that goats can't possibly eat. That doesn't mean, however, that they won't try! Especially when they are young, they will at least taste anything they can get their mouths on, including rope, construction tools, fingers, and your favorite jacket. (They will rarely pass up an opportunity to gnaw on your shoelaces.) They also love to climb on anything and everything. In fact, if you bend down on all fours, they will probably climb onto your back. This may not be true of all breeds, but from what I've seen, goats are as eccentric as they come.

Old Goats

Unfortunately, the playful nature of these animals seems to fade as they grow older. Perhaps it is because their horns and beards grow in and they begin to take themselves too seriously. If they have large horns, they tend to act more aggressive and less accommodating, trying to assert their egocentric dominance by ramming and hooking things with their prongs. They can be fun to wrestle with, but if you have anything damageable in your yard, they can be a little problematic. If you've every heard someone called an "old goat" before, there was probably some vexation tied to that comment.

Overall, goats can be a lot of fun...if you have the extra space and really like animals. If not, it's probably better to get a puppy. But if nothing else, growing up with goats made going into the backyard that much more adventurous.