The first time I encountered adult sheep I was surprised to learn that they actually sound just like a human imitating a sheep. It was like if dogs barking really sounded like a human saying “Woof woof”.
Animals make noises for lots of reasons, anxiety being only one of them. When my pets make noises, it often means “Pet me” or “give me food” or “I’m happy to see you” or just “hey there”. I’m not sure that those goats and sheep are anxious.
Wow. That is really scary. (I think most people are laughing in response to their own anxiety.) I can easily see people like me running for help for somebody over the hill who I think is in horrible pain or difficulty.
Then don’t look at this night-time photo of the real power of sheep. Lambs of the Corn.
I can’t see the video from work, so will have to survive the suspense for a few more hours. I will say though, that goats can sound terrifyingly like humans laughing. I’ve heard stories about a hermit farmer shooing a particular goat which was “always laughing at him.” Probably never actually happened, but anyone who knows goats knows: it could have.
Really? I was laughing because it’s silly and fun. I enjoyed the incongruity of pretty chill looking animals just standing there shrieking. It’s funny to me, which (as discussed) means I’m not intelligent.
It just means that you are not used to the rudimentary facial expressiveness of small ruminants. A sheep or goat can be absolutely terrified but its face may look, to an uneducated human, quite blank and soft. Dogs and cats, in comparison, have extremely expressive faces. I think horses also have much more facial expression than goats, sheep, and cattle.
cjepson: you are right, goats and sheep bleat when they are in heat, hungry, or lonely (my goats bleat when they see my car coming home, and also if they see me walking away into the forest without them), as well as when they are frightened or in pain. But if they are content they are basically silent.
So in your qualified opinion then, it is your conclusion that when goats or sheep “scream like humans” it is always a sign of distress? I’m finding that conclusion hard to figure given that in the OP’s video, most of the goats (or sheep) are just kinda standing there, vocalizing…whatever.
The Sheep Who Cried Wolf? (To FoisGrasIsEvil.)
-My wife #2 used to always complain; my last potbelly pig, one of many, but the most intelligent, would scream several different calls at the top of its lungs when i got home from work until i went down to say hello! It wasn’t for food as my wife fed her with the dogs long before. My wife said soon as my car pulled up on the driveway over 100ft away she started “singing.”
What a terrible thing to do to dogs.
What did your coworkers do with them once they were fully grown?
Well, it isn’t random. In the clips, you can’t tell why, but I would guess many of them are distressed because they are separated from their friends (sheep and goats like to be together ALWAYS), and are calling out to them, or are hungry and are calling to be fed. They are standing there because they have nowhere to go.
Nubian goats are a notoriously noisy breed and some of mine seemed to bleat when they experienced a tiny moral dilemma or they stubbed their hoof or it was just a bit too shady.