Goats in Trees!

Well, it's finally arrived. The Day I write about Goats In Trees. I've been procrastinating about this for a number of days now, but not for any reason other than the fact that I am a lazy oik.

The reason I am writing this post, is because I am sick of being branded a filthy liar by the people I know. This all started about a week ago. I was browsing the Intarweb for pictures of funnyness. I found many, and I shall post them in due course.
Anyway, I had found a number of funny pictures, so Laura and Nate, my housemates, were also sat near my PC, looking at the pictures with me. I came across a picture containing a number of goats, in a tree.



"Guffaw" said I, "The best thing about this picture, is that it is real"

"BOLLOCKS!" erupted the reply.

Now, I hadn't mentioned this earlier to my housemates, because quite frankly I didn't expect to see a picture of some goats in a tree, (and hence I found myself unprepared for the whole scenario) but I remember vividly watching a nature documentary when I was much younger that contained a lot of good footage of goats climbing trees, and goats in trees. For this reason I knew that this was true.

I had seen it, with two of my favourite eyes! I told my Housemates this (Laura was the least believing) but they refused to acknowledge that the picture was real, and that I was not winding them up.

"Just look at those tiny branches! You expect me to believe that the branches can hold the weight of a goat? How the hell did it get up there anyway? With just hooves, and no opposable thumbs?"



"Well, despite the fact that these two eyes (gestures) saw a nature program about such goats climbing such trees! They are DEFINITELY real, you loon."

However, no amount of reassurance was about to change her mind. I even found more pictures, which were quickly branded as being fakes. It got to the stage where Laura was so convinced I was winding her up, exasperated, I said, "Look, it's not like I've been going all over the internet, planting pictures of goats in trees, just so I could trick you into thinking it!"

Furious that I could be so readily dismissed as being a blatant liar (or possibly just crazy) I decided to undertake the mission to find further proof. So I went researching, and this is what I found:

In order to find a goat in a tree, you'd be best to travel to somewhere drought ridden like Morocco (I've been there, but I didn't see tree goats) or if you're lucky, certain parts of Spain. All of these pictures contain goats in Argan trees (argania spinosa), otherwise known as Moroccan Ironwood. It is an insidious tree with thorny leaves and a thick tough twisted trunk and branches. The goats climb the trees simply because they're too small to reach the fruits, a yellow flesh fruit like a cross between an olive and a lemon, but more rounded. The fruit is like KFC to the goats; they love it.



When goats eat the fruit, the fleshy part is digested but the nut remains. Later, the nuts are collected by farmers to produce oil.
The production of argan oil, which is still mostly done by traditional methods, is a lengthy process. Each nut has to be cracked open to remove the kernels, and it is said that producing one litre of oil takes 20 hours' work.
The oil is slightly darker than olive oil, with a reddish tinge. It can be used for cooking and is claimed to have various medicinal properties, such as lowering cholesterol levels, stimulating circulation and strengthening the body’s natural defences. It is used also for skincare products, and can also help reduce suffering caused by sunburn. As well as for cosmetic uses, the oil has an apparently delicious flavour, and is used in all manner of cooking, and I can't really be bothered to get into that right now.



Anyhoo, I've strayed from my original topic: Goats Climbing Trees. However, beware, as not every instance is as black and white as it seems. In certain areas of Morocco, you may see goats in trees, but they may not be tree climbing goats. In some areas local children put the goats in the trees so that they can pester the tourists for money once they take a picture of the goats in the tree.

So finally, after finding lots of photos and even a video, I finally convinced my housemates that despite what common sense may tell you, goats really can, and do, climb trees!



Then I made the mistake of mentioning it to the people at work. Ridicule ensued. So, I decided to write this post.

So here you should be able to find irrefutable proof that many a goat has climbed many a tree. If you untrusting buggers still don't believe me, then here is a good quote and a few links for you to follow:

On reflection, though, any mountaineer could tell you how easily a goat can get into and out of situations denied to us graceless bipeds unless we use fathoms of rope and an expensive collection of arcane ironmongery, so what should be so difficult about climbing a tree?

Did these Goats Really Climb Trees?

More Goats in Tress info and pics!

Tree Climbing Goats Crap Old Beauty Trick

Can't get enough of goats in trees

Please note, some of the content in this post has been nicked from some of these sites. Plagerlicious.



If I was a goat I'd go to space. People would call me SpaceGoat. Those that believed, anyway....