“…and today we’re talking about a screaming sensation. But more on that later.”
In the open meadows, the humble goat grazes and stares into the middle distance, contemplating its place in the universe and the meaning of life. Its calls shift subtly, shaped by its social circle, adapting as needed to fit in or stand apart. It’s vacant expression and square pupils belie a hidden linguist But sometimes you have to talk the lingo to blend in like the goat here in Life, Death, and Taxonomy.
Measure Up
Welcome to the beloved Measure Up segment. The official listener’s favorite part of the show! The part of the show when we present the animal’s size and dimension in relatable terms through a quiz that’s fun for the whole family. It’s also the part of the show that’s introduced by you when you send in audio of yourself saying, singing, or chittering the words Measure Up into ldtaxonomy at gmail dot com.
Hoodwinked! (2005) – Little Red Riding Hood Meets Japeth The Goat/”Did I? Did I? Did I? Did I?”
Height of Goats
Height at the shoulder (withers): 16–42 inches (41–107 cm)
In the ancient mid east, quern-stone was used for manual grain grinding. Disk querns that were small enough to grind grain by hand have been found all over the Zagros Mountain region in present day Iran. True or false, one disk quern goes into height of a goat at the withers.
Disk querns for hand grinding were about 30 to 60 cm in diameter.
Weight of Goats
Weight: 20–340 pounds (9–154 kg), with most adults falling between 100–200 pounds
Males are usually 20–30% larger and heavier than females.
In the book of 1 Samuel, Nabal, the first husband of Abigail, was very wealthy as evidenced by the number of sheep and goats he owned. He had 750,000 pounds of sheep if sheep are 250 pounds on average. True or false, he also had 340,000 pounds of goat.
Fast Facts about Goats
- Domestication: Goats were one of the first animals domesticated by humans, around 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent region (modern-day Iran and surrounding areas), from the wild bezoar ibex (Capra aegagrus).
- Global Importance: There are over 1 billion domestic goats worldwide, making them one of the most numerous livestock species. More people consume goat milk and meat than cow products in many parts of the world, and goat milk is often easier for humans to digest due to smaller fat globules.
- Diet and Adaptability: Goats are browsers (preferring to eat shrubs, leaves, and weeds with heads up) rather than grazers like sheep or cows. They thrive in harsh environments with sparse vegetation, including rocky mountains and arid areas, and can utilize a wider variety of plants than most livestock.
- Eyes and Vision: Goats have distinctive horizontal, rectangular pupils, which provide a wide field of vision (up to 320–340 degrees) to spot predators while keeping their heads down to eat. This shape helps maintain focus on the horizon.
- Climbing Ability: Renowned for agility, goats can climb steep cliffs, trees (famously argan trees in Morocco), and even man-made structures. Young kids are especially playful and adept at jumping and balancing.
- Breeds and Uses: Hundreds of breeds exist, varying in size, coat, and purpose—e.g., dairy (like Saanen), fiber (Angora for mohair, Cashmere for fine wool), meat, or multi-purpose.
- Behavior and Lifespan: Goats are intelligent, curious, social herd animals with strong hierarchies (males often head-butt to establish dominance). They can live 15–18 years on average, with some reaching over 20 in captivity.
- Ecological Impact: Feral goats can be invasive, causing habitat degradation and threatening native plants/animals on islands, but managed grazing can help control weeds.
Major Fact: Kids Say the Darndest Things (Bleating Hearts of the World Unite)
- A 2012 study from Queen Mary University of London revealed that young goats tweak their bleats to echo the “accents” of their social circle.
- Researchers eavesdropped on 12 Saanen goat kids, recording their calls at five days old—when everyone sounded like a generic goat—and again at five weeks after spending time with other members of their trip.
- By kiddie social hour, the bleats within each group had morphed into a matching accent via subtle shifts in pitch, rhythm, and timbre.
- In goat trips—where herds split and regroup all the time—it solves the “who’s who” headache, letting bleats act as business cards.
- The accent tweak helps young goats slide into the social scene more easily.
- The impact is a closer-nit group. A tighter trip ties mean better babysitting for kids and quicker responses to threats.
- Goats join humans, bats, and whales as some of the only animals that are capable of developing recognizable accents.
- Dialect drift can differ farm-to-farm, so a Scottish goat might maa more mournfully than its Mojave mate, adding accidental accents to agrotourism.
- So next time you gaze into the seemingly vacant eyes of a goat, remember that they’re actually hidden linguists.
Ending
So grow a beard, resolve your conflicts with forceful thrusts of your skull, and speak like the locals like the goat here in LDT.