With a tiara placed on her head – gifted by a fan – Little Miss Goatee is becoming the biggest celebrity of a Shetland town.
She belongs to Esther and Tom Jeromson, who own Love from Shetland which sells products made from goat milk.
Back in 2017, the couple took one of their goat kids – Connor – into their Lerwick store at Commercial Street to spread some community cheer.
What was supposed to be a one-off appearance turned into regular visits, and the beloved animal became a hit with local customers and tourists alike.
Over the last seven years, several goats have made an appearance at Love from Shetland including Connor, his sister Connie, her daughter Little Miss Goatee and Pixie.
And now their smallest member, Little Miss Goatee, even has her own Facebook page and is building a loyal fanbase.
Lerwick goats raise money for charity
Realising their kid’s popularity, Mr and Mrs Jeromson decided to use their fame for good and began raising money for RNLI Lerwick lifeboat station.
To date, the goats have helped collect more than £6,800.
Speaking to The Press and Journal, owner Esther explained how it all began.
“A lot of the locals were coming in and asking about the goats while they came in looking at the soap,” she said.
“We thought it would be nice to take one of the goat kids in, and we instantly thought of Connor because he’s so placid.
“To start with it, he came in just for the locals to meet a baby goat kid. But then more people started coming in and asking, ‘when will the goat be in again?’
“We hadn’t planned at the time that we would bring him back in again, but there were loads of people coming in and wanting their photograph taken.”
Speaking about their fundraising efforts, she said: “We never thought for one minute that it would take off.”
Lerwick goats making people smile
As well as raising money for the local lifeboat station, Connor the goat also helped raise £8,000 towards an MRI scanner.
This year, Little Miss Goatee has so far raised £2,174 for the lifeboat charity.
The kid was bottle-fed by Mr Jeromson after she was rejected by her mother.
Esther added: “She’s doing really well. She is loving the attention – they all love the attention.”
The islander says the goats have become popular with locals and tourists alike.
Esther recalls a visit from a young girl from the Philippines, Evie, during a visit to Shetland.
Esther said: “She was kneeling down on the ground and the goat kid lay down next to her. She put her head over her knees and went to sleep.
“It’s nice to know that she is making other people smile.”
She added: “Through the summer holidays, there is a wee boy that comes nearly every day to see her. He keeps bringing his toys to show her.
“It cheers a lot of folks up.”
RNLI shop manager and joint chairperson Linda Simpson said: “The RNLI is a charity and without donations and fundraising the crews just wouldn’t be able to go off and save lives.
“It’s very important up here as we are surrounded by water, so we need to raise plenty of money.
“Shetland people are good at raising money for any charity.”
