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I now know of Fainting Goats aka TN Fainting, scare , stiff legged goat, myotonic, mini-myotonic goats. Whatever they are referred to, they are goats somewhat smaller than most goats. What ever they are called their legs stiffen when they are startled by sudden stimuli. It could something as simple as quickly opening and closing an umbrella. The medical term is myotonia congentia. Myotonia means weak muscles. There are over 20 videos of the phenomena on Youtube. On the other hand I saw a suspicious one on fainting goats vs Chuck Norris. I doubt this is to be taken seriously. Plus a video on the topic with comic Matt Billon. Didn't see the vidoes so I can't judge them.

The goats are used as pets. They are utilized too, as food. It is definitely not uncommon to see them as a form of entertainment. Some mean-spirited children, adolescents think its hilarious to startle the farm animals to watch their reaction as they helplessly fall over. There are farmers, breeders of chickens and other poultry who make use of the strange beasts in the following way. When they see a predator approaching their flock they throw in a fainting goat so the flock can get away, while the prey animal tries to figure if the faining goat is still alive. Meantime as the predatory animal is checking out the fainting goat, the rest of the animals can then escape.

The condition is genetic. There is a similar condition called stiff leg syndrome in humans. This is when a person who inherited this disorder is startled, their legs stiffen and they fall over. There is another disorder that is somewhat like the fainting goat phenomena. Its known as the "Jumping Frenchmen of Maine" syndrome. Basically they jump, wave their arms, yell when they are taken by surprise. For the record if you tell them to do anything, providing its physically possible they will do it. They repeat what is said to them too. The medical term is echololia. You can look it up at www.rarediseases.org, the official web site of the US National Organization of Rare Disorders. I saw it too in Dorland's Medical Dictionary. Its listed in the Merck Manual as well. One thing these three ailments hold in common is their commonality of strange startle responses. In the case of the JFMM syndrome a theory is it is caused by a defect in the brain's response to the inhibitory neurotransmitter, glycine. A neurotransmitter is a brain chemical discharged from a neuron ( nerve cell) and passes on information from one cell to the next. They are classed basically as inhibitory and exhibitory. An inhibitory neurotransmitter basically a relaxant. An exhibitory neurotransmitter causes a sense of alertness.

One thing I learned from reading of fainting goats, Jumping Frenchmen of Maine syndrome, stiff leg syndrome is that us humans can share genetic traits with our non human animal friends. When one says humans and animals. This is incorrect. Humans ARE animals. We are primates. We are all part of the animal kingdom.

By the way there is an official "International Fainting Goats Assn. It says on their web site they were founded in 1989 as a way for people who appreciate them as a breed and to preserve their existence. I didn't find out where their headquarters are. Perhaps it's Tennessee since this is where the goats originated. If you are curious. Their web site is www.faintinggoat.com. You may want to check out the www.myotonicgoatregistry.net site too. There are various individual farm home pages listed on the net. The easiest way to find them is to do a web search for them.

Learn more about this author, Lynda Kohn.
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