goat of the day

The tenth of November 2018

goats
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one where my eyes laid upon a goat,
There the caprine sat, as if to gloat,
He blocked my path and I said, I quote
Dear goat, why should you rest here in the middle of the path
You are blocking this byway with your sunbath
And the goat looked at me with gleam in his eye
Needless to say, he would not let me pass by
AsI waited,  the time did fly
And sure enough, I soon did realise
That everyday I must devote
Some words in honour of the goat
And all of their kind, so silly yet wise
And that has made all the difference.
Inspired by and partially borrowed from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost 
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Whatever your journey, I hope someday you meet a goat along the way. 

The ninth of November 2018

goats

I am pleased to introduce you to Quincy, who is photographed here proudly showing off his fantastic beard. In general, a feature of being a mammal is having some kind of hair or fur; however, beards are a hirsute feature shared by goats and humans. Facial fair for humans is typically considered a male trait, as higher levels of testosterone in men encourage the growth of thicker and darker hair on the face compared to women. Charles Darwin speculated that beards are an evolutionary adaptation for prehistoric and pre-human males to attract mates. For goats, the beard is not strictly a male trait, but a sex-influenced trait resulting in some female goats having beards of their own. Speculation as to why beards on goats evolved remains an unexplored subject, but most goats tend to go with natural-style beards. Darwin, with his free-style long, white beard, may have been a trendsetter as some have noted that men’s facial hair in Victorian England was particularly fantastic.

I extend many thanks friend Kyla Daniéll who shared this stunning photograph of Quincy with me, taken by Barbara Vandenbussche in Stroe, Netherlands, posted with permission.

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Quincy has a magnificent beard and a wonderful gleam in his eye.

The eighth of November 2018

goats

Goat pastoralism is typically the way humans have kept goats for millennia, and still do in some parts of the world. However, in other parts of the world taking your flock of goats around to graze and roam is not sensible and might even be illegal. Therefore, some people keep goat farms and practice goat farming, sometimes with the intended goal on selling goat’s secondary products, mainly milk. There are many resources online to help you build your goat farm and learn to raise goats. For example, it is important to have enough space for your goats to wander around, as they are quite intelligent and inquisitive creatures prone to boredom and shenanigans. Caring for goats requires some work, but most who take up goat farming find it to be a rewarding challenge. You don’t have to begin with a huge enterprise,

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Hanging out at Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats, which sells wonderful souvenirs rather than secondary goat products.

The seventh of November 2018

goats

Disappointment and discouragement are unfortunately inevitabilities of everyday life. However, in the face of what might seem like the end or an insurmountable mountain to climb, there is always a glimmer of hope to be found. Today, regroup, stay motivated and keep fighting for what you want and what you think is right. There will be a tomorrow and things can get better.

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Don’t feel too discouraged, friends. The fight is far from over.

The fifth of November 2018

goats

One of the most distinctive features of a goat are their horizontal, rectangular pupils. The shape of the goat pupils allows them exceptional peripheral vision, approximately 320 degrees, very helpful for detecting predators. Some have theorized that pupil shape and size is related to whether or not a creature is predator or prey. For example, cats have vertical shaped pupils while sheep and goats have horizontal ones. Humans have round pupils, perhaps because other attributes of ours help us avoid prey and/or because humans can be predators. Goats can also see quite well in the night, and can even rotate their eyes over fifty degrees perhaps to keep an eye out for hunters when they are grazing! That is pretty amazing. Excellent peripheral vision, good night vision, and the ability to rotate the eyes to a high degree must give our caprine friends and interesting perspective on the world. Some say goat eyes are creepy; however, I think they are just totally fascinating. It’s good to have an expanded perspective, whether it is from the actual geometry of your pupils to keeping an open mind.

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Expand your perspective.

The fourth of November 2018

goats

There are some people who advise to never look back, cautioning against regret. There are other people who advise reflection and contemplation. So long as it does not strain your neck, it is useful sometimes to look back upon your achievements to find inspiration for accomplishing future goals. If you achieved something amazing in the past, you can achieve something amazing in the future.

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A glance at the past can reveal your ability to achieve amazing things. 

The third of November 2018

goats

Everyone has a story to tell, but sometimes there is not always someone there to listen. To be a good friend, sometimes you have to be interested rather than interesting. Have a listen to someone’s story, it might be entertaining, you might learn something and most of all listening is a wonderful act of kindness.

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Good storytellers are also great listeners.

The first of November 2018

goats

Today’s goat of the day comes from the film Ski-baz, or The Skier. The Skier was directed and written by Fereidoun Najafi.  The film follows the day in the life of Jolie, a small boy in red wellies who lives in rural, southwest Iran amongst the Bakhtiari tribes. Jolie has cared for a mountain goat that wandered into his village to escape wolves; however, a death in his family network has made his parents wish for it to be sacrificed in a traditional funerary ceremony. To not sacrifice the goat would be to dishonour his family and imbalance important economic distinctions between groups. Jolie is also on a quest to get enough money to buy some new skis so he can compete in a skiing competition, which will give him enough money to potentially keep the goat.

The main theme was not animal rights or coming of age; rather, the steady creep of globalization and change against traditional, tribal values. The Bakhtiari people have long inhabited the southwest corner of Iran as pastoralists, although the number of nomadic pastoralists has significantly dwindled. According to legend, some believe they were descended from Cyrus the Great of Persia. Sheep, goats and their associated by-products are a large part of the traditional economy of the Bakhtiari, but in a world increasingly connected by technology many values fade along with the nomadism. In some ways this is good, for example women can move more freely throughout society. In other ways, letting go of old traditions is sad. By the end of the film, Jolie had seemed to have moved on from his pet goat onto his next quest across the snowy hills. The Skier was nominated for a Asia Pacific Screen Awards for Best Youth Feature Film in 2017.

The balance between the old while welcoming the new can be difficult. As an anthropologist, I really enjoyed this film and learning about this part of the world. As a goat enthusiast, I wish that there had been more goats.

Note: Until today, all of the goats have been from my own personal photos. Today’s goat of the day comes from a picture from the film. 

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Jolie and his pet goat, named simply Mountain Goat.

The thirty first of October: Halloween 2018

goats

Happy Halloween! I hope that you all have some lovely tricks, treats and shenanigans and enjoy!

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I have yet to photograph a goat in a costume; however, this one seems to be plotting some mischief.

The thirtieth of October 2018

goats

In a previous post, goat’s dietary preferences were discussed and some mythology about what goats actually eat were dispelled. However, goats do enjoy eating some unusual things. For example, goats can eat and digest poison ivy leaves without issue. The urushiol compound that causes the nasty, blistering rash in humans does not effect them at all, leading some people to use them as a means to mitigate and destroy poison ivy. You can even hire a herd of goats in some areas to take care of excess brush and such plants! In the UK, poison ivy is rare, but there are still unpleasant, rash-inducing plants about, such as stinging nettle. Unsurprisingly, goats do not experience similar negative reactions to stinging nettle, and are known to enjoy the leaves as a snack. Perhaps goat browsing is an effective and fun solution to problematic plants.

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Snacking on stinging nettles in Kent. Yum?