Fainting goats

[Tallison]

Pretty funny, unless you're the goat.

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jimknapp/goats.html

[okoboji]

1. yep

I have some friends that own a huge farm with many exotic animals, and they have several fainting goats. We always have to be careful when approaching them.

here is an article about the various differnt animals and such that they do have....

http://www.siouxland.net/index.cfm?cat=57&artid=4709

[barb162]

2. It is as if they were bred to do this and breeding in a

negative trait...it isn't right. This reminds me of certain cat breeders who were breeding a short-legged cat. Some kittens were born with genetically malformed legs and then some of the idiot breeders decided it was cute and they could make money on it.

[Tallison]

3. They were deliberately bred centuries ago by shepherds

to hang with the flocks so that when predators approached, the goats would startle, pass out, and becoming decoys that distracted said predators, maximizing the remainders' opportunity to flee.

On edit: Though you're right, I'm sure people now perpetuate the breed for the novelty quotient.

[barb162]

4. Yes, I read that part of the story and I think when you purposely

breed in a genetic negative you're doing something wrong. Bred to be decoys...bred to die for another species, the sheep. Like what we do with cows, pigs, etc.

[Tallison]

6. Overall I agree

But I think there being a practical - not purely aesthetic - basis for a particular instance of the practice is to a degree ethically mitigating. Now I think we're at the point in foodstuff and textile engineering technology that there is hardly any legitimate practical basis for animal breeding anymore.

[Lars39]

5. My dad thought he'd killed his grandpa's whole herd of goats

when they all fainted. Dad was 4 at the time. Not real fond of goats now for some reason. :D

[Lone_Star_Dem]

7. I had a similar experience as a child

Friends of my parents had one of these goats and I was outside playing near the pen. I had been warned to stay away but I was something like 6 years old and, well, I was a little stinker. I ran up to the pen and when the goat fell over I KNEW I had killed it.

Just imagine how surprised I was when I finally admitted my crime only to have them show me the goat was standing again and just fine.

[Lilyhoney]

8. I love them.

I have only seen them on video, and I think they would be fun to have.