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Posted by GoatWorld on February 15, 2002 at 11:47:47:
In Reply to: Thought we could all use a laugh posted by Karen on February 14, 2002 at 13:54:29:
That is too funny! I know exactly what you mean though about the goat falling over and looking like it's dead - pretty pathetic. As I was building a "goat hotel" a year or so ago, everytime I would go into the pen with a 4' x 8' plywood sheet, our fainter (named Steevee-P) would take one look and fall over on his side. It was hilarious. Then those darn F-16's would be low flying and even though you can hear them coming, once they have passed over, it is really loud in the wake. Ol' Steevee-P will faint everytime - so they are just as susceptible to be scared by noise.
From what I know about fainters, it is a recessive gene that causes them to faint. Actually, it is more like a stroke that they have - a sudden rush of adrenalin that overwhelms their body. I don't know if it is good for them or not, but they still faint and recover. I heard that the term "scape-goat" was coined from these goats. Like you were saying, the farmers would put them with the sheep and cattle to offer them up as a "sacrifice" to predators. The fainters would faint, the cattle or sheep would bolt, and the predators stopped with the fainters as their prey.
Best regards,
Gary
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