This is Jake Marote and his pet goat Billy.
Billy is a baby.
They go everywhere together.
Jake is a local boy from Big Island. He lives on Oahu now and spends his free time adventuring and photographing the island. You can follow him on Instagram @jake_of_all_trades to check out his adventures.
Jake grew up surfing on Big Island and has lately been working on his surf photography.
He’s been shooting with Zak Noyle (staff photographer for SURFER Magazine and RVCA advocate) and is developing a tuned eye for shooting people in the barrel.
He shoots mostly with a GoPro and iPhone (in a Watershot housing), which just goes to show, it’s not about how expensive your gear is. If you are in the right place and right time, any camera can take a good photo.
Case in point.
Jake also fishes.
And, he bow hunts.
And that’s how he came to own a pet baby goat. He found this little guy while on a hunt. Yes, for goats. And yes, Jake realizes the irony.
But the mother had abandoned the baby and Jake decided to take it home and take care of it. The umbilical cord was still attached. The baby was a male and male goats are called billies so Jake name him Billy. (Females goats are called nannies.)
I met Jake through Instagram. Some of Jake’s friends had taken Billy for a hike up Koko Head and I ran into them. I took this photo and posted it to Instagram. A couple weeks later someone tagged Jake in my photo and that’s when I found out who the owner was.
I figured it would be fun to meet the goat and take photos of him. What resulted was a day of cute overload. Here, Billy is chewing on a dried up orange peel.
I went to meet up with Jake out a the Halona Blowhole Lookout. I figured it would be fun to take little Billy on a hike up to the Koko Crater Arch.
When Jake arrived the first thing he wanted to do was feed Billy. He found a farm supply store that sells goat milk formula and that’s what Billy has been living off of. That and orange peels.
When Billy saw the bottle he attacked it. I’ve never seen a goat drink milk so voraciously. I have also never seen a goat drink milk before this day.
He splattered milk all over his face and we were all like “awwwwwww.”
Then Billy went back to the orange peel.
Once we got over to the trail, Jake took off Billy’s leash and the goat just followed him around. Apparently goats are very loyal.
This goat is freakin’ cute dude.
It looks pretty soft here but he’s all fur and bones.
But his little chin is pretty soft. It’s hard to see because they are so small but his tiny baby goat horns are just starting to come out. You can feel them when you rub his head.
Billy is not trying to go for a kiss here, he’s trying to eat Christina’s hair.
Hello.
At one point, Jake left Billy with me and Christina and went to take this photo. With Jake gone, Billy started to cry and cry. It was cute for a minute but then it got annoying so I stuck my finger in his mouth.
He likes sucking and gnawing on fingers. It totally shut him up.
When Jake came back, Billy was all happy and stuff.
Billy is one of those goats who knows he’s cute.
Look at those tiny little hoofs.
We stayed up at the arch for an hour or so talking story and getting to know Jake. When we got down we walked off dramatically towards the horizon.
Bye Billy. I miss you.
See also:
- See more of Jake’s photos at: Jake Marote Photography
- If you want to see two examples of Instagrammers who totally epitomize the outdoor Hawaii lifestyle, check out Jake (@jake_of_all_trades) and his adventure buddy Shaun (@2scoopsofaloha).
- If you want to see more photos of Billy, check out the tag #billybaahba on Instagram.
- See the Koko Crater Arch hike.
