THE FARM — Goats sometimes play dead. How do I know this? Because I once had a bizarre experience with a goat in Pennsylvania.
It was a stiflingly hot summer day, and I was walking down a country lane near the town of Elizabethville. As I passed a farmhouse, I noticed four hooves sticking straight up in the long grass. Upon closer inspection, I saw a large goat lying on its back. The goat's eyes were closed, and it didn't move at all as I approached it.
I felt the homeowners would want to know their goat had passed away, so I knocked on the door. A bearded man answered and gruffly asked what I wanted. Pointing to the goat in the yard, I told him I had some bad news. It appeared that his goat had gone to the great grass patch in the sky.
The man rolled his eyes and said, "My goat always does that. It's how he sleeps. He's no deader than you or me."
I had no interest in getting into a debate about goat health with a stranger, so I apologized for bothering the man and went on my way. But as I made my way down the road, I saw the man and his wife approach the goat. And I heard one of them say, "No way! It's really dead!"
Anyhow, I thought of that old goat when I saw this video.
It appears that the farmer in Pennsylvania was right ... goats indeed like to lie on their backs with their legs in the air. I love how quickly this goat goes from frolic mode into rigor mortis. Fortunately, in this case, the goat came to its senses and went right back to playing after its morbid performance.
