There are reports that a man dressed as a mountain goat has been spotted in Utah. The authorities seem to be concerned that he may be injured by goats, or that a hunter may mistake him for a goat. This is going in the "creepy" file for now.
By they way, mountain goats are not true goats (capra genus), nor are they sheep. They are in the same subfamily as goats and sheep, but have their own genus (Oreamnos). I consider them to be closer to goats than sheep since they are called mountain goats. They have very square heads and remind me of Snowy from Tintin.
Recently visited Cleveland and picked up a copy of the Plain Press, the free west side paper. There was a great little article on MowGoats- a pilot project designed to clear vacant lots using THE POWER OF GOATS! Goats not only clear the spaces, but are environmentally sounds, and their presence draws communities together. Who wouldn't want to come and visit someone herding a group of caprines with names like Clover, Buffy, Rosie and Princess?
“There are as many women as there are men who pursue odd ways of
earning money, one class of which would be designated as ‘goats,’ for it
is their business to be ‘discharged’ from the department stores in
which they are ‘employed’ a number of times each day. When a grouchy or
haughty customer makes complaint of discourteous treatment against a
clerk, one of the ‘goats’ is summoned to the office as the person in
charge of that particular department. There she is given a good talking
to in front of the angry customer and summarily ‘dismissed,’ and the
complainant goes away rejoicing.”
The story is one told again and again. Surfing soccer-loving boy gets goat as a way to clear brush from his land. Boy, who used to live in Africa and has ties to http://www.flosoccerministry.com/ , planned to eat "Goatee" after she finished her duties, but, like many bitten buy the goat-bug (ew) found that the creature had such personality he couldn't help but fall in love. Well, not that kind of love (although the section of the video above does have a scene of them swinging tandem on a swing set, I am sure it's just platonic love).
Boy then, on his 33rd birthday, took the goat surfing and thought she did a good job. A video of him and Goatee appeared on a local tv station and soon went viral, being picked up all over the world.
Goatee is the mascot of Flo (forever loving others) Soccer Ministry, which spreads the love of Jesus through soccer. Something about soccer, and surfing, and goats... and Jesus I guess...they all inspire passionate embrace and soulful support that seems to go beyond the single entity. At least that's what I think. Think what you like - it's still cool to see a goat surf.
I recently visited my favorite goat in the world at the world famous Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Sydney was an utter jerk when I worked with her back in 2000, when the Australian Adventure exhibit first opened. It was the first time I was around goats, and I soon learned to love her devious personality. She was the one who was always jumping out of the enclosure, munching on kid's strollers, and so on. She was one of the original animals in the contact yard (petting zoo).
She's getting on in years and seems to have mellowed. Still, she's awesome.
This weekend I was formally introduced to papercrafting. I'd seen papercrafts (which are usually printed on single sheets of 8.5"x11" sheets of computer paper and then cut out, constructed and glued together) sitting on the cash register at the funky local video store. I didn't quite understand where they had come from (thought you had to buy a kit or something) but now I have been shown that they are all over the internet. You can find papercraft of just about anything - so of course I searched for GOAT!
Papercrafts are a bit like origami, except that they can be cut and glued together as opposed to just being a paper folding art. Perhaps in the future I'll look up some origami goats.
Welcome to the future home of the Goat Hall of Fame and Museum!
Greetings -- do enjoy "all things goat." Feel free to email me with any suggestions or just leave a comment on a blog post. I am collecting any and all goat-related tidbits here-from goats in pop culture to historical goat myths.
I am planning to eventually open the Goat Hall of Fame and Museum as a roadside attraction here in Wisconsin. It's still in the planning stages, but I will be sure to let you know as things progress!
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