Goat | Goats originated from the mountainous areas of west Asia and eastern Europe, grazing on hillsides and plains. Modern day common goats are known as domesticated goats and are thought to be very closely related to a sheep.
For thousands of years goats have been used for their meat, hair, milk
and skins. In some countries goats are also used to help with carrying
heavy loads.
One of the rarer species of goat is the fainting goat from
Tennessee in the United States. These goats literally freeze up, the
goats legs go rigid and the goat falls over. The goat will soon get back
up and continue grazing until it happens again. Most species of male goats naturally have two horns on the top of their head. The horns of the goat are made out of the substance keratin, from which human fingernails are also made. The male goats mainly use their horns to
defend themselves from other dominant male goats and from unwanted
predators. Some species of goat also have females that have two horns on
the tops of their heads.
Goats are typically found
in more barren landscapes and many species of goat tend to prefer
mountainous and rocky terrains. The goats that inhabit the mountainous
cliff faces are amazingly agile and are able to hold their hold well on small ledges and are very adept at jumping and running around on them. The goat is natural prey to many predators which include leopards, tigers, large reptiles
and most commonly humans. Today the goat is also found in parts of
South America where the goats are farmed and hunted for their meat and skins.
The goat is most closely related to the sheep and
there are many similarities between the two species as well as a number
of differences which include the tail length of the goat which is
noticeably longer than the tail of the sheep.
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