5th March: Day of the Goat

Today is the Day of the Goat in the French Revolutionary calendar. 10 things you might not know about goats:

1. There are over 300 distinct breeds of goat.
2. Goats are among the earliest animals domesticated by humans - for all the obvious reasons - meat, Milk and skin, but Neolithic farmers would use their poo as fuel as well.
3. Like Cows, goats have four stomachs.
4. Goats have a reputation for eating absolutely everything. They do eat a wide range of things, mostly the tips of woody shrubs and trees, as well as the occasional broad-leaved plant, and can eat some plants which are toxic to other animals. Humans have made use of this tendency at times by using goats to clear vegetation. Really easy, put some goats there and let them eat. However, goats won't eat anything inedible. The idea that they do comes from the fact that they are extremely curious animals and will investigate things, usually with their lips and tongues, especially things that might appear like plant matter such as Paper or cloth, to find out whether it's worth eating.
5. They are also known for being good at climbing, and in some circumstances, can even climb trees, ie if the tree is at an angle.
6. They are also highly intelligent, which, coupled with their climbing ability, makes containing them with fences or walls quite tricky. If there is a way out, a goat will find it, and other goats will watch and learn!
7. The Norse god Thor's chariot is pulled by two goats called Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. They are quite miraculous, because as well as pulling the chariot, they get eaten by Thor every night when Thor sets up camp. Thor saves the bones and wraps them up carefully and by the morning, the goats have come back to life to pull the chariot again.
8. English words inspired by goats include "goatee", a type of beard so called because it resembles the facial hair of a goat; and "scapegoat" which derives from the ancient Jewish practice of taking two goats at Yom Kippur, sacrificing one and letting the other go, taking with it the sins of the community.
9. Up until 2002 the people of Manganeses de la Polvorosa in Spain had a goat throwing festival, which involved throwing a live goat from the top of a church. The goat would be caught in a canvas sheet, but all the same, animal rights groups campaigned for it to be banned, and eventually succeeded. Nowadays a toy goat is lobbed off the church tower instead.
10. 2015 is the Chinese year of the goat. People born in the year of the goat are described as peace-loving, kind and popular.