Has anyone heard of these things!? Fainting Goats! Here's a link to a youtube video that is great! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we9_CdNPuJg. Watch it! You'll love it! I love the part that shows how the goats adapt to this unfortunate circumstance.
Fainting Goats: A fainting goat is a breed of domestic goat whose muscles freeze for roughly 10 seconds when the goat is startled. Though painless, this generally results in the animal collapsing on its side. The characteristic is caused by a hereditary genetic disorder called myotonia congenita.
Although extensive research has been done on these goats, there have never been any conclusive results that indicate why they behave the way that they do. The idea that they have myotonia congenita has seemed to be accurate but all research has been deemed inconclusive. Beck et al. (1996) studied the chlorine ion channels in the neural pathways that propagated action potential to see if these had any correlation to the goats "fainting" tendencies. Although it has been proven that a lack of chloride can in fact cause spontaneous muscle contraction, it is more likely that the actin and myosin filaments in the goat's muscle are being directly affected by a prenatal acetylcholine deficiency as shown by Conte et al (1991). Although it is not impossible that there are other reasons that these goats enter myotonic shock, no theory has yet been confirmed.
Every year in October, fainting goats are honored in Marshall County, Tennessee at the "Goats Music and More Festival". The festival is centered on goats, but also has activities including music, an arts and crafts show, food vendors, and children's activities. http://www.goatsmusicandmore.com/
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