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Entire books, television shows and Web sites are dedicated to bizarre animal behaviors, but few antics are as unusual or unexpected as this one:
Brandi Smith's pet goat faints.
It swoons, passes out, keels over, dives nose-first into the dirt.
It's not called a fainting goat for nothing.
Smith's goat, a female called Missy Lu-lu, is a myotonic goat, a breed increasing in popularity because of its peculiar behavior. Commonly called nervous goats, wooden leg goats or scare goats, the breed has a genetic trait that causes the goats to stiffen or fall over when startled.
"The first week I had her, it was raining, so I had an umbrella," said Smith, 14, of Crouch Mesa. "The fence was pretty tall and narrow, so I had to lift (the umbrella) over. I went and turned around and closed the gate and turned back and she was on the ground. I thought I killed my goat for a minute."
Unexpected movements, loud noises or unfamiliar people can trigger the response, which is at once involuntary and comical. Younger goats are more apt to fall over while older goats often can continue to walk stiff-legged as they wait for their muscles to loosen, a process that can take 10 to 15 seconds, said goat breeder Rebecca LaFontaine, of Bloomfield.
LaFontaine has eight fainting goats named after book characters, family friends and local towns. There's Hermoine, named after the Harry Potter character; Flora and Vista, two female goats named for the community between Farmington and Aztec;
The goats all faint periodically, LaFontaine said, though some are more prone than others. All develop the characteristic wooden leg when startled, and car horns, visitors and barking dogs can cause them to collapse.
The goats' muscles also can stiffen when they get excited, such as during feeding time.
"One time I dropped a piece of hay on the goat's head, and she fainted," LaFontaine said. "When they're scared or excited, sometimes they just stiffen up. When they're really scared they just topple over and they don't move."
LaFontaine's goats are registered with the International Fainting Goat Association, a group formed in 1989 to preserve the breed.
The distinction is granted to goats whose lineage can be traced to the original fainting goats discovered in the late 1800s, or whose owners can supply photographs of the goats in fainted position, said Jody Workman, director of the IFGA.
The origin of the fainting is goat is unclear, Workman said. The widely accepted story tells of a transient farm worker who showed up with a small herd of fainting goats in Marshall County, Tenn., during the 1870s. The man reportedly had an unidentifiable accent and was wearing a beret. He sold the goats and disappeared.
The goats later were used as decoys because they were easy prey for predators attacking herds of sheep.
"They were used as the sacrifice," said breeder Karla Wages-Keck, of Aztec. "The goat would pass out when coyotes or wolves attacked, and they would be the ones eaten instead of the sheep."
Wages-Keck has kept a small herd of the goats for about eight years. Although she doesn't actively breed the goats or use them as decoys, she said the unique trait provided hours of amusement for her children.
"My kids always brought their friends over to try to make them faint," she said. "It's funny. Everything freezes up, everything stops working."
The trait generally is not considered a defect, said breeder Vickie Robinson, of Aztec. Robinson breeds meat and dairy goats, but does not keep fainting goats. Myotonia congenita is a dominant trait passed from parent to offspring, she said. It does not interfere with the central nervous system, but occurs in the muscle fiber.
"No one knows where the genetic trait came from," Robinson said. "They're not really fainting. It's a chemical in the brain that locks the body up. It's an unusual thing to have happen and it doesn't hurt them. It's just sort of funny to watch."
Breeders have preserved the trait and consider the fainting goat a unique and desirable variety.
"They're vulnerable in a way, and they're worth a lot more, as much as $200 each, if they're registered," LaFontaine said.
The fainting goat is prized for its meat, formed by the constant contraction and relaxation of the muscles, especially in the hind legs. The more stiffness a goat exhibits, the better the meat, LaFontaine said.
Only a handful of local breeders have the goats, and the community is expected to narrow as breeders swap billy goats for mating purposes. The breed is growing, however, said Smith's mother, Sally Hood, a breeder who has pushed for the goats to appear in the San Juan County Fair for the last two years. There has been resistance from fair judges who believe the trait is a defect and should be bred out.
Smith, who participates in 4-H, shows animals at the fair every year.
Fainting goats can do well in animal shows, she said. The trait occurs in goats of all colors, markings and coat lengths.
Missy Lu-lu is acclimated to humans, so she rarely is startled or stiffens up. Smith spends time every day grooming and training her goat to prepare it for the fair. She and her mother are breeding more fainting goats to show next year.
"Fainting goats have never been out at the fair," Hood said. "I thought it would be fun to have them out there, so I talked a member of the 4-H club to show out there. I'm pushing to get it going. I'm pushing for fainting goats, just because they're oddballs."
Alysa Landry: alandry@daily-times.com
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