I’d like to start this post by showing a video (I’ll bet that many of you have already seen similar ones): “Fainting Goat? He Gone!”.

These goats are hilarious. They’ve become an Internet sensation, and can be found all over YouTube and are shared on social media sites. One video has over 23 million views, and the goats have been featured on news channels like ABC and National Geographic, as well as MTV.

They go by many names, most commonly fainting goats. The same goats can be called stiff legged goats, nervous goats, Tennessee meat goats, wooden legged goats, and more. The breed’s technical name is a myotonic goat, which refers to the genetic condition that causes the fainting sensation.

Fainting goats as a nickname and description is actually somewhat misleading. When the goats fall over, the do not lose conciseness. In fact, they are not hurt at all. The genetic disorder responsible for the leg lock-up, called myotonic congenita, is characterized by a neuromuscular malfunction. When a myotonic goat is startled or excited, the goat’s leg muscles are signaled by the brain to tense up. Normally, the leg muscles would automatically stop contracting. In the case of these goats, the muscles can take 10-15 seconds to go back to normal, which leads to them falling over. It can be triggered by surprise, such as the rapid opening of an umbrella, or excitement over breakfast. Hopefully, these goats never have to experience the shock of a predator coming to eat them, which could also trigger the frozen legs.

The way they respond to predators is closely related to why the breed might have been developed in the first place.  Science would tell us that this kind of trait, e.g. falling over when you see a wolf, would lead to the quick removal of this trait from the gene pool through natural selection. But, when domestication enters the picture, the rules of selection are changed (and goats are the oldest known domesticated animals).

Source: Beastkeeper.com

One good example of this is cow spots. The first cows that humans encountered did not have black and white piebald spots like the cows you may see today. If they did, they would not blend in with the landscape and be an easy target for predators. When a mutation caused the gene to appear in a farmer’s herd, though, he likely saw the advantages of having a cow that was easy to find and bred this cow with other cows to reproduce cows with the same trait.

The theory for the development of fainting goats is that a farmer wanted these goats in his herd as a decoy for predators. If a wolf appeared the fainting goats would fall down and provide a distraction, allowing the other, more quality goats to escape.

Sad.

Today, these goats are kept for one of two main reasons: for pets and meat. Their faints are amusing, which makes them a popular choice for families that just want a couple goats as pets. They have also been bred lately to be lean and stocky, traits that lend themselves to meat goats. The International Fainting Goat Association provides guidelines for the specifics of the breed. I think that the best identifier is to go up to a goat and yell “Boo!” with spread arms and see if it falls over. Try it with the next goat you see!

Sources:
http://www.faintinggoat.com/index.php

http://www.goatflowerfarm.com

BONUS FACT: Myotonic goats can’t “faint” until they are around five or six weeks old. So, this video of baby myotonic goats has no fainting (but is very cute!)