# Giant Goat Erection **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 3, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346 "2013-12-03T04:48:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MetroGnome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@MetroGnome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MetroGnome)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/1 "2013-12-03T04:48:53Z")
The [Gavle Goat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A4vle_goat) is up! From the Wiki: > [@](#): > > The Gävle Goat[…]is a giant version of a traditional Swedish Yule Goat figure made of straw. It is erected each year over a period of two days by the group Southern Merchants in time for the start of advent. > > The first goat was financed by a man named Harry Ström. On 1 December 1966, a 13-metre (43 ft) tall, 7-metre (23 ft) long, 3-tonne goat was erected in the square. However, at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, the goat went up in flames. > > The goat has since had a history of being burnt down roughly every other year, 2012 being the 26th time. Anyone want to place bets on when/if the arsonist will succeed this year? I don’t really celebrate the holidays in any way, but watching the Gavle Goat has become a favorite winter tradition! Watch it on live-ish cam [here](http://www.visitgavle.se/sv/gavlebocken). ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/2 "2013-12-03T09:10:53Z")
> [@MetroGnome](#): > > Watch it on live-ish cam [here](http://www.visitgavle.se/sv/gavlebocken). Strange. It looks like it is in the middle of the night but it’s full daylight at the moment (10.06 AM). Through the years only one arsonist has been apprehended and fined. It was an American who had been fooled to believe that burning the goat is a cherished tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/3 "2013-12-03T10:15:33Z")
**Gävle confident its 2013 Xmas goat won’t burn** An enormous and iconic straw goat that gets illegally torched almost every Christmas is to be unveiled to the Gävle public on Sunday, with organizers confident a changed in design will keep arsonists at bay. > **[Gävle confident its 2013 Xmas goat won't burn](https://www.thelocal.se/20131130/gvle-confident-its-2013-christmas-goat-wont-burn)** > > An enormous and iconic straw goat that gets illegally torched almost every Christmas is to be unveiled to the Gävle public on Sunday, with organizers confident a changed in design will keep arsonists at bay. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/4 "2013-12-03T12:29:34Z")
_cough_thermite_cough_ ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/5 "2013-12-03T19:11:38Z")
Ok, we’ll need a mirror the size of the Hubble’s, a helicopter, a pilot capable of precise hovering and, of course, sunshine. An appropriately time gust of wind would also be helpful. Who’s in? ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/6 "2013-12-03T22:36:27Z")
Based on the thread title, the story is not anywhere close to what I was expecting. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/7 "2013-12-04T00:38:43Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Ok, we’ll need a mirror the size of the Hubble’s, a helicopter, a pilot capable of precise hovering and, of course, sunshine. An appropriately time gust of wind would also be helpful. > > Who’s in? Baaaaaah. We need an ancient siege engine. A goatapult, if you please. And 5 gallons of gas. And a goat. And a lighter. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/8 "2013-12-04T00:43:37Z")
I’m like a fly drowning in a pitcher plant. Lured in by a sweet smelling thread title. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/9 "2013-12-04T00:53:05Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Based on the thread title, the story is not anywhere close to what I was expecting. +1 ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/10 "2013-12-04T01:09:01Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Based on the thread title, the story is not anywhere close to what I was expecting. I agree! I went past the thread several times without reading it, assuming it was another example of a certain sort of topic that seems to be getting popular on SDMB. 😃 Guess I’ll have to grit my teeth and open more threads with “interesting” titles; I might be missing something! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/11 "2013-12-04T01:15:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Oakminster** : > > Baaaaaah. We need an ancient siege engine. A goatapult, if you please. And 5 gallons of gas. And a goat. And a lighter. No, as any long-time SDMB reader knows, what we _really_ need is a [PVC goat cannon](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=41020). ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/12 "2013-12-04T01:21:44Z")
What happens if it’s not burnt down? Is it eaten by goats? ---
**Author:** ![MetroGnome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@MetroGnome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MetroGnome)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/13 "2013-12-04T05:06:18Z")
Here’s [footage](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryF6_89BYJE) of last year’s goat doing it’s best impression of a phoenix. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2013, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/14 "2013-12-04T05:37:31Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Based on the thread title, the story is not anywhere close to what I was expecting. I was expecting [RationalWiki’s mascot](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Goat). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/15 "2013-12-05T01:34:01Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Based on the thread title, the story is not anywhere close to what I was expecting. Based on the thread title, it’s pretty much what I expected. ---
**Author:** ![sich\_hinaufwinden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@sich\_hinaufwinden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sich_hinaufwinden)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/16 "2013-12-05T03:36:17Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > Based on the thread title, the story is not anywhere close to what I was expecting. Is there a bale of hay in that goat’s pocket or is it just happy to see me? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/17 "2013-12-06T20:17:55Z")
They should just bow to the inevitable and hold a Burning Goat Festival. “I burning your goat!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/18 "2013-12-06T22:18:58Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > I’m like a fly drowning in a pitcher plant. Lured in by a sweet smelling thread title. This is the way you talk about goat erections? **backs away** ---
**Author:** ![MetroGnome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@MetroGnome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MetroGnome)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/19 "2013-12-23T03:35:32Z")
The arsonist prevail again this year! Here’s the [liveleak video](http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=77c_1387649458). ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346/20 "2013-12-23T03:43:05Z")
Burn the Goat Burn the Goat Burn the Goat Yeah Sorry this is my second burning and I will root for the Arsonists every time, well unless they burn anything other than the Goat. I have to get to Sweden Cheers **Capt** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-goat-erection/675346.md?page=2)