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Before you jump to conclusions no, these were not
created by a bored geek in Photoshop. Amazingly, these uncanny animals
are actually real they climb the Argan trees of Morocco in search of
food, which is otherwise sparse in the region.
Over time they have become not only able to climb trees but downright
adept at the art – the traipse across trees with a sure-footedness that
is hard to imagine from a hoofed animal.
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The droppings of the goats contain the kernels of the seeds they consume
which are, strangely enough, used by locals to press and grind into oil.
Even more disturbingly: this oil has a number of uses including culinary
(yes, people eat it) and cosmetic (yes, they also smear it on
themselves). You might want to skip over the versions of these products
sold by local farmers for the somewhat cleaner mass-produced varieties.
For a quarter-liter bottle of this goat-digested kernel-oil you can
expect to pay from 15 to 50 dollars.
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Known as skilled navigators of treacherous mountain conditions, maybe it
isn’t such a surprise after all to find goats making their way up the
steep and narrow trunks and branches of only slightly more dangerous
trees.
Unfortunately, the Argan tree is slowly being over-harvested so you may
have to hurry to see the real thing. Still not sure you believe the
images of goats climbing trees up to heights of 30 feet? There is
nothing quite like a video to convince even the most cynical skeptics:
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Note that instead of the careful climbing one might expect these brave
goats simply hop from one cluster of branches to another in search of
food. In the middle of the video you can even see a younger goat run
down the almost vertical slope of the tree before hopping lightly onto
the ground below – followed shortly after by another that simply jumps
from a higher set of branches to land on its feet.
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