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Goats Mating

2011-12-28 · story · John · 3:55 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature (also: Personal life) · mode: Personal update · tags: on location, recurring series

On a walk near his parents' North Carolina home, John watches their goats mate, gets lost and finds his way back, reflecting that life makes life from life and from what was once alive.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Morning at Mom and Dad's house in Western North Carolina; warning that the video contains goat sex; the walk begins and John slips

  • ★★ John woke at Mom and Dad's house, admired the view of Western North Carolina from the porch and went for a walk. — 00:00:00 · Sydney Green, Mike Green
  • ★ John warns that the video contains goat sex, and not as a euphemism. (playful) — 00:00:00

00:00:30 — Up the creek bed: dead leaves become dirt that feeds living trees; Virchow's 'all cells come from other cells', life begets life

  • ★★ The day before, John walked the creek with Henry and explained how fallen leaves become dirt that feeds the still-living trees. — 00:00:30 · Henry Green
  • ★★★ John recalls Rudolf Virchow's observation that all cells come from other cells: life begets life, the realization behind modern biology and disease treatment. — 00:00:30

00:01:06 — Visiting Mom and Dad's goats: milk needs babies; the male's pee-beard courtship, misdirected humping and eventual mating; life makes life from life; getting lost

  • ★★ Mom and Dad raise goats and turn their milk into fancy soap and cheese; goats must have babies to produce milk. — 00:01:06 · Sydney Green, Mike Green
  • ★★ John says a male goat peeing on his own beard is a sure sign of goat mating. — 00:01:27
  • ★★ John watched a long courtship (beard-rubbing, tail-wagging), hid so as not to discourage the goats, and after misplaced humping saw them mate; he was glad Henry didn't see. — 00:01:27 · Henry Green
  • ★ John jokes that lady goats love a good pee-stained goatee, then realises the pun on 'goatee'. (joke) — 00:01:27
  • ★★★ John reflects that, some ways more palatable than others, life finds a way to make life from life and from that which was once alive. — 00:02:07
  • ★★ Lost in thought, John got very lost in the woods; following water downhill, he found his trail by the skid marks from his fall, 'another life saved by dead leaves'. — 00:02:07

00:02:56 — Following water downhill, finding his skid marks: a life saved by dead leaves; more goat milk for Mom's soap; sign-off

  • ★ John says the goats' mating means Mom should have more milk for soap soon; the description adds Mom has a little soap left after the holiday sales. — 00:02:56 · Sydney Green

00:03:33 — Outtake: crossing a bridge he didn't want to cross, 'no whammies'

  • ★ In an outtake, John films himself crossing a bridge 'for posterity', saying he didn't want to but knew no other way back. (playful) — 00:03:33

In the description and comments

Humor (significant)

  • John explains that the male goat pees on his beard to attract females. — 00:01:27

    “Lady goats, it turns out, love a good pee-stained goatee. Oh! Goatee! Just got that.”

  • The goats' foreplay takes forever. — 00:01:27

    “Like, if this were a Kardashian reality show, I could have stretched my footage into four episodes.”

  • After the long, misdirected goat courtship, the mating finally happens. — 00:02:07

    “success! Terrifying, horrible success!”

  • John finds his way home by the skid marks from slipping on leaves earlier. — 00:02:56

    “And so it was that another life was saved by dead leaves.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: cell theory

Also: decomposition · Henry Green · Kardashian family · Mike Green · North Carolina · Press Your Luck · Rudolf Virchow · Sydney Green

Only in the description or credits: Boston · Thoughts from Places · Tour de Nerdfighting

Later videos replying to this one