Aren’t goats the best? If you’re wondering can goats swim, do they like water, or if they sleep, you’ve come to the right place. Learn all this and more about goats in this article.
Table of Contents
- 15 Things You Didn’t Know About Goats
- 1. Goats Are Responsible for Cashmere
- 2. Goats Are Very Social
- 3. Goats Discovered Coffee
- 4. Goats Are Quirky
- 5. Goats Have Eyes in the Back of Their Heads
- 6. Big Goat, Small Goat
- 7. Goats Faint When They’re Scared
- 8. Give Two Kids a Buck and Call Them a Trip
- 9. Wild Goats Never Sleep
- 10. Goats Were the First Animals to Be Domesticated
- 11. Goats Use Tools
- 12. Goats Can Catch Colds
- 13. Goats Are Great Swimmers
- 14. Goats Climb Trees
- 15. Goats Are Smart, Inquisitive and Picky
- FAQs About Goats
- GOAT (Greatest of All Time!)
We call ourselves Goats On The Road for three reasons.
- We call each other “goat” or “goady” as pet names.
- We always see goats wandering around on the road when we travel. Plus, we are on the road (notice the double entendre).
- We love goats!
15 Things You Didn’t Know About Goats
Who doesn’t love goats? If you’ve ever seen a baby goat, you know that goats are one of the cutest animals alive. But there is a lot more to goats than you may think. They are smart, fashionable and absolutely hilarious.
Here are 15 things you may not know about our favourite nomadic livestock.
1. Goats Are Responsible for Cashmere
If you’re in the fashion business you may have already known that cashmere is made from goat fur, but this was news to me. I was reading a post on this blog and I was shocked to find out that goats actually produce this expensive and luxurious wool!
If you’ve ever smelled a goat before, you may be surprised to find out that people actually wear their fur. Cashmere has been manufactured in Nepal for thousands of years. The fiber is also known as pashm (Persian for wool) or pashmina (Persian/Urdu word derived from Pashm) for its use in the famous handmade shawls of Kashmir.
2. Goats Are Very Social
Despite being represented as shy and introverted in the 12 animal Chinese Zodiac, goats are actually very social. They frequently communicate with each other and mothers can recognize their “kid’s” bleat even after a year of being separated.
3. Goats Discovered Coffee
Long ago in the Ethiopian highlands, a goat herder named Kaldi noticed that his goats were acting a bit strange. They were hopping up and down and running in circles into the wee hours of the morning.
He soon realized that their strange behaviour was due to their consumption of a certain berry. The berry soon became known for its energetic properties and word about its amazing effects spread into the Arabian Peninsula, and from there it was transported and traded around the world.
The Dancing Goat Coffee Company in the UK has clearly heard of this legend. Today coffee is the world’s second most traded commodity (next to oil). Thanks, goats!
4. Goats Are Quirky
We all know that goats are a quirky animal, but their scientific name, Capra aegagrus hircus, actually derives from the Latin word Capra, which means quirky, whimsical, fanciful and apt to change suddenly.
5. Goats Have Eyes in the Back of Their Heads
Well, not literally, but goats have a strange, rectangular pupil that allows them to see 320 degrees around them. Their oddly-shaped eyes also grant them great night vision!
6. Big Goat, Small Goat
Goats actually vary greatly in size from small 35 lb pygmy goats to giant 240 lb Boer goats! Both species are raised for meat and while Boer goats clearly have more fat to feast on, pygmy goats are known for their high-quality milk.
7. Goats Faint When They’re Scared
Actually this is a controversial myth.
In reality, goats don’t faint, but the Tennessee Fainting goat has a condition of the central nervous system called congenital myotonia, in which their muscles become temporarily paralyzed when they panic.
The condition causes no pain, but the animals do fall over. No matter what causes them to tip over, it is hilarious, but you shouldn’t go around screaming at goats to make them faint… just watch it on YouTube instead!
8. Give Two Kids a Buck and Call Them a Trip
Young goats are called kids and adult male goats are bucks (or billies). Females are called does (or nannies) and a group of goats is called a trip.
9. Wild Goats Never Sleep
That’s right, wild goats are like Chuck Norris, they don’t sleep, they wait.
This is actually a controversial topic but many goat specialists (yes there is such thing as a goat specialist) say that wild goats never sleep. Others claim that it’s a “tree falling in an empty forest” situation and the goats actually do sleep when nobody’s watching.
Meanwhile, domesticated goats sleep about 5 hours a day.
10. Goats Were the First Animals to Be Domesticated
Recent genetic analysis confirms the archaeological evidence that the wild Bezoar ibex of the Zagros Mountains are the likely origin of almost all domestic goats today.
It is thought that humans domesticated goats as early as 7,000 B.C. Maybe goats are really man’s best friend?
11. Goats Use Tools
Goats are one of the few animals known to manipulate their surroundings to do their bidding. It may not be as dramatic as a chimpanzee using a branch to harvest honey, but goats have been known to pick up straw and use it to scratch their backs.
12. Goats Can Catch Colds
Don’t cough or sneeze on your goat because they are susceptible to many human ailments including colds, flus and pneumonia.
13. Goats Are Great Swimmers
Hearty seafarers, goats have long been a sailor’s companion.
They have been historically kept on ships for meat and milk over long journeys and they were occasionally thrown overboard.
When the captain made his goats walk the plank, it wasn’t a ritualistic sacrifice. He was actually giving the goats a much-needed swim around the boat to prevent their muscles from dystrophy.
So, can goats swim? The answer is they’re great swimmers and have been known to swim long distances and even across seas to populate on close neighbouring islands.
14. Goats Climb Trees
You haven’t truly lived until you’ve seen a goat in a tree. Seeing goats precariously hanging from the outermost branches of an argan tree in Morocco was one of the most hilarious sites I’ve ever seen. Just check out this picture:
15. Goats Are Smart, Inquisitive and Picky
You may have seen goats chewing on rubber and random household objects, but this is not because they are hungry or mindlessly chewing.
Goats are actually very inquisitive and they frequently pick up items to investigate them. While goats will put almost anything in their mouth for examination, they absolutely hate paper and tin cans.
FAQs About Goats
If you’re still wondering about goats, or just want a quick answer to a question like can goats swim, read on for answers to some frequently asked questions.
Yes, goats can swim, and they’re actually quite strong swimmers. They typically prefer not to swim, but will if necessary.
They like to drink it, but they generally avoid getting into it. But they can swim well if they have to.
Goats may not be known for composing beautiful love poems, but there’s no doubt that they show affection to other goats and sometimes humans too. For example, goats often cuddle with each other.
The eyes of goats have well-developed night vision. One reason for this is it allows them to search for food out of the hot sunlight of midday.
Well, who doesn’t like a nice smile? Sure, goats like to be smiled at, and if you don’t believe me, then check out this research article all about it.
GOAT (Greatest of All Time!)
There you have it!
Goats aren’t just adorable and hilarious, they’re actually extremely intelligent and complex animals with many behavioural quirks and a long history with the human species.
This article was inspired by the funny video below and my subsequent goat research. I hope you enjoyed reading it!
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I was Baaaamused by All of these … thanks for the playful read! 🙂
I love goats, they are definitely one of my favourites animals and I had three pet goats that I used to spend hours with when I was a kid. I could never eat goat because of this but I love goats cheese 🙂
I used to have 3 goats and they were the most awesome pets!
haha, you’re welcome!
I’m so jealous that you had pet goats! And I’m not surprised that you could never eat goat!
Thanks for the comment 🙂
We would love to have pet goats! They’re so cute 🙂
Thanks for the comment.
Hehe, what a funny post! I know what you mean about there always being goats on the side of a road – when I was little and we used to go to India to visit family, I would sit in cycle rickshaws just counting them! Didn’t realise that they’re responsible for cashmere though!
Hi Shikha 🙂
Thanks for commenting. Goats are hilarious, aren’t they?! We too didn’t realize that they were responsible for cashmere, had no idea until writing this post. Goats are literally on the road wherever we travel, even here in Grenada! That’s so cute that you used to sit in the cycle rickshaws and count goats, I love that. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers!
Yes Goats do climb trees and for a very good reason.
I’m from Morocco and I witnessed the scene more than once.
Probably you have heard of Argan oil”Moroccan oil”. From long ago, this oil was a result of a perfect symbiosis between Amazigh people (N. Africa’s aborigines) and the Bloody notorious GOATS. It works like this; goats easily climb Argan trees, pick the fruit, eat the skin, spit the nut, Women and kids collect the perfectly clean nut, crack it open with a stone, get the almond, grill it, grind it and finally get the tasty, richly flavored and, healthy oil.
Picking the fruit from a high and spiky tree would be an arduous task without goats. What would take hours to do for a human, a couple of goats get it done in a jiffy 😉 Efficient isn’t it?
The harsh mountainous nature of southern Morocco makes it hard to herd other livestock. Goats are the main source of protein in the region. Tajin with young goat meat and Argan Oil is exquisitely delicious. And so does a peanut-butter like paste called (Amlou), made of almonds, honey, hazelnuts and Argan oil.
Warning 1: DO NOT try to eat you Argan oil that you put on your face, that’s for cosmetic use and it does not taste good.
Warning 2: If you ever get to eat “Amlou”, Beware that it’s irresistibly tasty and if you eat too much, it might cause you diarrhea
Aren’t goats amazing?!
But goats don’t faint when they’re scared, at least not most of them. It’s a very specific breed, Tennessee Fainting Goats, that do that. All other breeds react normally when scared. 😉 I don’t know if you knew that, but I’m clarifying just in case.
Thanks!!
Actually goats do love paper lol along with plastic , gyprock, clothes, everything but tin cans
Goats are very social… yes i found them Social
Well, this post was just fantastic all the way around! 🙂
haha, we think so too Gotta love goats! Cheers
Um! My goat loves to each paper and cigarette buts. He is a weirdo. And he is Houdini the escape goat.
They are very social. so if you get a goat get 2. Our goat is lonely. That’s why we let him out of the fence area. He never leaves the yard though. He is a FFA. Project . He is schedule to be slaughtered next week January 26 2021. We found a sanctuary for him. And we are not doing FFA again.He will living on a big farm with other farm animals and 3 other goats. So if you love goats you love this ending. Oh yeah he jumps on top of my car when I pull in the driveway if I don’t get out of the car fast enough. I don’t like that!!
I had a goat follow me down from a mountain walk in Fuerteventura, couldn’t get rid of it and it followed me for 5 hrs all the way back to my hotel apartment. Better behaved than my dog. Lovely animal