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"Fainting goats? No way!"

Actually, yes way. Fainting goats, or Myotonic Goat, or Nervous Goat, Tennessee Fainting, Stiff-leg, Wooden-leg, and even Scare Goats are a slightly smaller version of the typical goat. The name Fainting goat refers to the goats' genetic condition, myotonia congenita, which causes the animals' muscles to freeze, thus making it stiffen or fall over. The goat does not actually faint; it is fully awake when in this state. Other goats learn to lean against something when their muscles freeze, letting them shuffle away stiffly. This condition is caused by the recessive genes, and different goats have different amounts of stiffness; some goats are completely rigid and fall over, some fainting goats only stiffen up slightly in their limbs, depending on the age,breed purity, and level of fright

Although these goats seem awkward and strange, they have been proven very useful by shepherds. The fainting goats were used to "protect" the sheep in this way: when a wolf or other predator came down from the hills, the fainting goat would stiffen up, causing the wolf to turns its attention from the sheep to the "easy catch" on the ground. The sheep would then get away without harm.

The history of these goats is rather vague; it only reaches back to the early 1800s, when a foreign farmer called John Tinsley brought four Fainting Goats to Marshall County, Tennessee. Tinsley appearsto have come from Nova Scotia, though not much else is known about him, as he was very reclusive and did not talk to most people. He eventually gave the goats to Dr. H. H. Mayberry, who, though tried to research them, could not find much information about these unique goats.

Fainting Goats usually have a very recognizable profile, with a short or medium long head, and a wide, flat and round nose. They are mostly quite stocky, as the myotonia congenita condition increases their muscle mass. The color of their coats can be any color, though it was said that the original color was black and white, which remains the most common color today. The coat length can vary from short to long, usually with more fur in the winter months. The Fainting goats have large eyes that seem to protrude from the face (bug-eyed). Fainting goats are great around kids, and excellent mothers. Some people people raise them for meat, as they are easy to bring up, and simple to keep.

For more information go to: http://www.faintinggoat.com/in dex.php

Other references: http://www-personal.umich.edu/ ~jimknapp/goats.html

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