La matanza

Click here to read the English version
Hace ya unos días que vinieron unos amigos de los Penner a casa porque habían comprado una de sus cabras. La tenían que sacrificar y limpiar, de lo que se encargó, evidentemente, Myron.
Preparamos uno de los cobertizos con paja seca por el suelo y plásticos aislantes en la zona de la puerta con el objetivo de mantener el calor en el interior. Trajimos un foco muy potente, unas cuerdas, un trineo para las vísceras y los utensilios de caza de Myron.
La cabra en cuestión era el macho Billy, de cinco años y con tendencia a romper cercados, paredes y puertas. Los niños nos explicaron que solía romper la puerta o la cerca, salir al exterior del granero, mirar la nieve y volver a entrar por donde había salido porque probablemente estaba más calentito.
Myron entró en el corralito donde estaba Billy y le disparó entre los ojos con un rifle del calibre 22, pero la bala rebotó; dicen que probablemente de tanto darse cabezazos contra la puerta el animal tenía un callo considerable. La bala no lo mató pero le dejó lo suficientemente aturdido como para que Myron pudiese degollarlo sin recibir una cornada.
Una vez desangrado lo colgamos de una viga por las patas traseras y Myron nos enseñó a desollarlo con un bisturí. Entre Myron y el señor que había comprado la cabra tardaron una media hora en terminar con la piel.
Una vez los músculos estuvieron a la vista Myron dio una pequeña lección de anatomía, aderezada con anécdotas de caza: que si un oso hizo esto, que si un alce hizo lo otro… obviando el tema de la muerte y la sangre era muy entretenido de escuchar.
Myron procedió entonces a eviscerar a Billy y aprovechó para remarcar lo limpio que es quitarle las entrañas a un animal cuando no tiene un balazo que le ha atravesado las tripas, los pulmones, el corazón o todo a la vez. También nos demostró que, si todos los órganos están intactos, no huele mal.
Pusimos todos las vísceras en el trineo y se las llevamos a los perros del vecino, que tiene unos cincuenta, ya que los usa para competiciones de trineos. La cabeza se la quedaron los niños porque querían los cuernos para un fuerte que están construyendo en el bosque.
Una vez terminamos con Billy fue el turno de los dos pavos de la granja. Los pusimos (uno a uno) en un cubo con un agujero en la base por el que salía la cabeza y Myron los degolló. Una vez desangrados y muertos los metimos en un barreño con agua muy caliente durante unos segundos y los desplumamos. Con el frío que hacía era bastante agradable para las manos ya que los pavos estaban calientes.
Una vez terminamos y recogimos ya era bastante tarde y Shelley preparó uno de los pavos para cenar, estaba riquísimo.
Enrique & MarinaEnglish versionTHE SLAUGHTER OF THE GOAT
While with the Penners, some friends of them came over from Whitehorse to visit because they bought one of the family goats. And it wasn’t a pet goat so it needed to be killed and butchered, which Myron kindly offered to help them doing that. 
Enrique helped a bit with that while I went to a pumpkin carving event at the Community Hall. First, they covered the floor of one of the barns with dry straw and closed the entry with some plastic to try to keep the heat inside the space. They installed a big lamplight and a few ropes, brought in a sled to move any heavy stuff and Myron’s hunting gear. 
Let me introduce the goat whose life was going to end. His name was Billy and was a five years old male pretty keen on braking fences, doors and walls. The boys told us that Billy used to break the gate of his barn way too often to go for a wander around, the animal will always go back to his stable since it’s probably warmer than outside. On top of this, he was getting a bit aggressive and feeding him became a not pleasant activity for the kids. They tried to cut his horns so at least he wouldn’t hurt anyone but the smart Billy managed to remove the elastics every time. Anyway, as you can see, it seemed that there wasn’t much point to keep him at the farm anymore. 
The process started with Myron getting into Billy’s barn and shooting a bullet of the calibre 22 between the creature’s eyes. The bullet bounced off. They though that he may had grown a really thick forehead after knocking his horns against fences, doors and others for so long. The impact of the bullet left him dazed enough for Myron to slit his throat. 
After bleeding the goat, they hung the body by the back legs and Myron showed the others how to remove the skin using a scalpel. It took them about half an hour to skin the animal. 
When the muscles were showing, Myron did a little lecture on anatomy scattered with a few hunting stories to make it more fun: anecdotes about bears, issues with a moose… Despite all the death and blood I bet it was really entertaining. 
Then Myron proceed eviscerating Billy and pointed out how much cleaner this is when the creature to butcher didn’t get a bullet in his stomach, guts, lungs, heart or a combination of these. And demonstrated that if the organs aren’t damaged it doesn’t smell at all (when done properly, of course). 
They load the sled with the guts and took them to the neighbour who has about fifty competition sled-dogs and always welcomes free fresh food. The Penner boys took care of the Billy’s head because they’re collecting various horns to make a fountain in the forest. 
When Billy was all done, it was the farm turkey’s turn. The winter is too cold for them and if they don’t get killed they’ll soon die in the cold. One bird at a time, they were put in a bucket with their heads sticking out for Myron to slid them. Once killed and bled, they threw their bodies in very hot water for a few seconds and plucked them. Despite the cold, it was a pleasant job for their fingers considering that the turkeys were still warm. 
When they were all done it was already pretty late in the evening and Shelley cooked one of the turkeys for dinner. We decided it was our delayed Thanksgiving dinner since we didn’t have one at the right time and the family also didn’t do anything special on the real date. Enrique & Marina