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Tree Goats

by Mordechai Zoltan | 2010

On the bus from Tetuan to Chechauen, a small village at the base of the Rif Mountains, you can look out your window and see Tree Goats. Tree Goats, quite simply, are goats in trees. I am not certain if the goats attract the trees or if the trees attract the goats, but nevertheless outside of your window you will see goats climbing in trees. The first time you see tree goats is a bit disconcerting because one normally considers goats to be ground-based; and trees, well—trees are trees. They have trunks, branches and leaves, and are not a common refuge for four-legged livestock. Perhaps Moroccan goats are possessed with a mirth and youthful exuberance which compels them to climb trees, but I know for certain American goats lack this trait and at all times maintain four-hoofed contact with the ground. Show me a tree with a bird on a branch, a cat hiding from a dog, even a dangling monkey or clutching Koala bear, and I'm all good; but the goat thing is hard to wrap my brain around.

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