We’ve come across goats, whether domestic or wild, but these familiar friends have hidden depths…
- Some Goats Faint When They’re Scared – When fainting goats feel threatened, they will collapse to the ground with stiffened legs. This amusing reaction is caused by myotonia congenita, a hereditary condition also found in humans and other mammals, which causes the chemical message to get ready for danger to fire over and over again, meaning their body tenses up for too long. Some goats are bred to have myotonia congenita, as the fainting makes them easier to control.
- Goats Gave Us Coffee – Goats could be responsible for discovering the effects of one of humanity’s favourite substances – coffee. The legend of Kaldi, a goat herder in ancient Ethiopia, tells that his herd of goats would get so excited after eating the beans from the coffee plants growing throughout the Ethiopian highlands that they couldn’t sleep. Kaldi took the beans to the local monastery, where an abbot made a drink with them, creating what we now know as coffee.
- Mountain goats cling to the sides of cliffs with their cloven hooves, made of keratin. They also have a special traction pad extending beyond the hoof for extra grip.
- Goats are social animals and live in herds of around 20. For most of the year, one female is dominant in the herd, until mating season, when a male takes over.
- According to reports from National Geographic, mountain goats have been known to leap up to 3.5 metres (12 feet) in the air.
6. Nigerian dwarf goats are one of the smallest breeds in the world. They grow to be 50 centimetres (1.6 feet) tall and weigh around 34 kilograms (75 pounds).
7. There are legendary goats – Goats have appeared in mythology throughout history. Perhaps the most famous is the Capricorn goat of the zodiac, whose sure-footed nature and agility are defining traits. Pan, the Greek god of nature, had goat horns and feet, as did satyrs, characters that appeared throughout Greek art and theatre.
8. Goats eat quickly – Goats are ruminants, meaning they have four-chambered stomachs and two-toed feet. Ruminants eat quickly, store food in the first chamber of their stomach, then regurgitate it and chew it again as cud. Cattle, sheep and camels are all ruminant mammals too.
9. Goats, like many other ungulates, have rectangular pupils in their eyes that give them 340-degree vision, up to twice the range of humans.
10. They are really not-so-silly billies – Despite their often vacant facial expressions, goats are intelligent creatures. They can be trained to answer to a name and complete an obstacle course, much like dogs.
11. Their wool is historic – The wools of the angora and cashmere breeds of goat are prized for their softness. Angora goats have been bred and their mohair fleece harvested since the 14th century BCE. Any goat can produce a cashmere coat, but those that produce a downy winter fur in high quantities are known as cashmere goats.
12. One goat is not a goat – The mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) is not a true goat, and is not part of the Capra genus. Mountain goats fall into a different genus for many reasons; their mountain homes call for an extra woollen layer, and a different type of fur to defend against the cold, and both males and females are crowned with pointy horns.
13. You can tell their age – The rings on the horns of some goat breeds can give away their age, in much the same way as a tree trunk. Horns have one ring fewer than the years of the goat’s life. The rate of feeding can change horn renewal times, so it is less accurate for domestic goats.
14. Baby goats are called kids – Goats usually breed in the autumn, and the gestation period lasts around five or six months. It is most common for the nanny (female) goat to give birth to one or two baby goats, known as kids. Newborn kids weigh around 3.6 kilograms (eight pounds) and learn to walk within a day or two of birth.
- Goats can climb trees – Goats in Moroccoo
ften climb the native argan tree to snack on its nuts and leaves. They are popular with argan farmers as they help fertilise the ground underneath.
16. They’re some of our oldest friends – Goats were one of the first animals to be domesticated. Archaeological evidence shows the first domestic goats were kept 10,000 years ago. Neolithic farmers in ancient Turkey and Iran kept goats not just for milk and meat, but also used their dung as fuel.
17. Boer Is the Biggest – The largest breed of goat is the Boer. This breed, often characterised by its red and white neck, gains weight at an alarming rate to reach its fully-grown size of 135 kilograms (300 pounds) for a male and 90 kilograms (200 pounds) for a female. The Boer is most often bred for its lean meat and is desirable to farmers because of its docility, high fertility rate and fast growth.
18. Goats Dig Their Homes – Goats graze across a ‘home’ area of some 23 square kilometres (14 square miles), and will dig an inch into the ground lo make a space for dust baths and rest.
19. Egyptian Pharaoh Cephranes was buried with 2,234 goats, evidence of our ancient relationship with the animals.
20. There are over 300 breeds of domestic goat in existence and an estimated 920 million goats on the planet.