Fainting Goats (Or Are They?)

13 July 2013

The Fainting Goat breed is one of the most talked-about goats online, especially in mainstream. These critters are the stars of some pretty epic videos and GIF animations online, looking extremely funny when dropping to the ground at any moment of shock. However, many witnessing the event have no clue to the scientific facts behind this breed of does and bucks that seem to pass out at the drop of a hat.

First, these “fainting” creatures are not common. If you ever get a chance to see this type of goat in real life, you are lucky, because they are a rare breed. Discovered in the Appalachian state of Tennessee, this goat was encountered by explorers for the first time (documented) around 1880, though the exact year is unknown. Biologists and animal enthusiasts have found them quite fascinating since. Studies have been conducted over and over to figure out what makes the animal appear to faint. The consistent result of those studies is… Read the rest of this entry »

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Olympic National Park Mountain Goat Killed Man after Regular Abuse

13 July 2013

Mountain goatIf you saw a mountain goat in the United States, would you run? Likely not, as there is not much danger associated with the creature, Though a little muscular, it’s not normally seen as an aggressive animal or threat to humans. However, one billy goat in Washington State changed people’s perception during 2010. That sharp-horned animal approached and gored a man in his thigh, causing him to die of excessive blood loss.

To this day there are many questions about why the attack happened. The victim, whose name was Robert Boardman, was a 63-year-old man simply touring Olympic National Park in Washington at the time of the deadly charge. He was at the wildlife-filled nature reserve with his wife Susan Chadd and long-time friend Pat Willits when the event occurred.

The victim’s two companions claim the mountain goat was being aggressive. The buck was looking as if it wanted to charge the group so Robert told them to go ahead, while he fended the animal off. Read the rest of this entry »

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Pygmy Goat aka Cameroon Dwarf Goat

13 July 2013

Facts and History of the Breed

One of the most popular goat breeds of 2013 is the Cameroon Dwarf goat. More commonly known as the Pygmy Goat, this straight-haired dwarf of the horned kingdom is considered an exotic to all countries outside of Cameroon in central Africa. Similar types of this critter exist across northern Africa, southwestern Africa, and east Africa. Each of these small groups are breeds in their own right, however.

The breed that we now see in the United States is typically the French Cameroon Dwarf. This specimen originated in Africa but was exported to zoos across the world. Particularly zoo habitats in Sweden and Germany were first to showcase the Dwarfs, placing them in a group of animals listed as “exotics”. The first Cameroons reliably documented to have found their way to the United States did so relatively recently, in 1959. A family by the name of Rhue brought the critters to their California estate and the Catskill Game Farm in upstate New York. These Pygmies came from Sweden.
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