Goats Faint At The Sight Of Opening Umbrella

This video will surely meet split reactions with you. A couple of farmers recorded how their small herd of goats would react then they see the boy opening an umbrella in front of them.

When you scour the internet, you might find that there is a particular breed of goat simply called “fainting goat”. It got the moniker because they suffer from a condition that makes their bodies go stiff when they are startled or excited, making them look like they are fainting. They topple to the ground, stay there for a few minutes, then get up and move along like nothing has happened.

The fainting part itself doesn’t cause any harm to the goats, but why make them go stiff in the first place? Sure, it is cute and hilarious to watch, but if these farm animals really are scared stiff of the sight and sound of an opening umbrella, why cause the discomfort?

Truth is, there is no discomfort. One might think that this condition is a defect in these goats, but think again. Many other animal species are known to play dead at the sight of danger, so why not a tiny, black and white goat? They might not do it willingly, like, say, the opossum, but every predator would turn away at the sight of a prey that looks like it has long expired.