In one of those stories that you have to see to believe, a herd of Kashmiri goats have taken over a village in Wales. Because of a Covid-19 lockdown in the Welsh village of Llandudno the goats have no one to tell them to stay in their hilly habitat and away from the town~and the town gardens. Llandudno is a seaside resort on the Irish Sea and has a population just over 20,000. That is humans.
Llandudno is surrounded by sheer limestone cliffs called the Great Orme. That area is host to many species of birds, and of course are the perfect environment for goats. It also is the place of the longest toboggan run in Great Britain, which is 750 meters long.
Surprisingly the goats are actually mentioned in the town’s official page,with a rather flowery excerpt from a booklet called “Aliens of the Great Orme”. In the 1800’s a man bought a few Kashmir sheep that had been imported to France from India. Squire Christopher Tower brought the goats to Llandudno and with their fleece made a cashmere shawl that was presented to King George IV. This started a trend for cashmere shawls, and of course King George IV got a couple of the Kashmiri goats too.
While goats have been attributed to eat just about anything, it appears the Great Orme goats which have gone feral are more discerning. They eat ” elder, gorse, hawthorn, bracken, bramble, ivy, stinging nettles and privet, according to the time of year.”
Well not these goats. They are now roaming through the streets and into gardens with the manager of the Landsdowne House Hotel saying “They are becoming more and more confident with no people, adding that its saves him cutting his hedge.”
When asked if the local constabulary had been requested to round up the goats, the North Wales Police responded: “We are not aware of any officers attending them as they normally make their own way back”
And coyotes in San Francisco.