When startled, younger goats will stiffen and fall over. Older goats learn to spread their legs or lean against something when startled, and often they continue to run about in an awkward, stiff-legged shuffle.

Thanks, wikipedia! Maybe those goats on Mythbusters were older and more learned.

Fainting goats are awesome. I can't help feeling they constitute some sort of argument in the intelligent design vs. evolution debate, but I'm not sure for which side!

Alpacas are also amusing when you see them in person, though they don't do anything weird like seizing up when surprised. I just get the feeling the dimensions on the blueprints were in imperial units, but the factory assumed they were metric. They look like they came out about half the size they were supposed to be.

They sound wrong, too. They look like they ought to make some sort of roar or horse-like snorting noise. But instead they just go "Meh."

Yup. I told this on the blue, but it's one of my favorite "Welcome to Tennessee" stories:

"An acquaintance was unaware of fainting goats when he first moved here. He had a job driving a truck delivering building supplies. He came to a jobsite where there were a bunch of goats standing around. To clear them, he hit the truck's horn and was stunned when the goats all fell over as if they'd been shot."

Another friend recently told me that he keeps alpacas on a farm near Kingsport, TN. He calls the place Alpaca-traz.

I swear I commented in this thread and now it's gone. Odd. Fainting goats are hilarious!