There are a lot of weird ideas and
stories about goats. One strange idea is that goats will eat anything—even tin
cans. The ancient Greeks had stories that told about imaginary creatures that
were part goat. These made-up creatures sort of looked like people, but they
had horns and tails and the legs of a goat. In stories, they danced and played
flutes.
WHAT ARE GOATS REALLY LIKE?
Goats are mammals that are a lot like sheep. Their
bodies are covered with wool. They have a tail and four cloven hooves. A cloven
hoof is divided, so animals with cloven hooves appear to have two toes.
Male and female goats have two long, curved horns.
Female goats have smaller horns. Male goats also have a beard. A female goat is
called a doe or nanny goat. Males are called bucks or billy goats. Baby goats
are called kids. Mother goats usually give birth to two kids at a time.
The does and kids live together in herds. Old
bucks tend to leave the herd and go off to live alone. Sometimes, bucks stand
guard at the edge of the herd.
WHERE DO GOATS LIVE?
Wild goats live in rough mountain areas.
Climbing around on rocks is no problem for a wild goat. They can make flying
leaps over wide gaps. They bound from one rock to another. Their feet are
specially made for landing on the hard rocks. Each foot has a soft part that
makes landing easy. Their feet do what shock absorbers do for cars.
Prehistoric people in the Middle East learned to tame
goats about 9,000 years ago. Today, tame goats live on farms. Goats are
friendly animals, and some people keep them as pets. You can usually find tame
goats in a petting zoo.
WHAT DO GOATS EAT?
Goats eat all kinds of green plants. Wild
goats eat the branches and leaves of tough mountain shrubs. Tame goats eat
grass in pastures. Farmers also feed tame goats hay.
Goats eat plants that cattle and other grazing
animals won’t eat. Sometimes farmers put goats in pastures to clean out the
tough plants. If the farmer is not careful, the goats will eat all the plants
in the pasture. There will be nothing left but bare ground. Maybe that is how
people got the idea that goats will eat anything.
HOW DO PEOPLE USE GOATS?
Goats provide milk, cheese, meat, wool, and
leather. Certain goats are raised mainly for their wool. Cashmere is a soft,
light wool from the Kashmîr goat. Mohair comes from the Angora goat.
Some people keep goats as pets. The pygmy goat is
most popular as a pet.