Is it a "geep" or a "shoat"?
April 4, 2014 5:49 AM Subscribe
What do you get when you cross a goat and a sheep?
Two weeks ago, Paddy Murphy, who also owns Murphy’s pub in Ballymore Eustace, saw that an unusual looking lamb had landed from a ewe.
"I knew a goat had gotten in among a few of the hoggets, I didn’t know what would turn out. They were all normal lambs apart from this fella. He looks like a goat, trapped in a lamb’s body, a Geep I think it’s called! He even has horns like a goat and he is very quick on his feet. He’s perfectly healthy and thriving away. He has been a great source of craic for the lads in the pub, we might even have a competition to name him,” Murphy said.
From wikipedia: The offspring of a sheep-goat pairing is generally stillborn. Despite widespread shared pasturing of goats and sheep, hybrids are poorly attested, indicating the genetic distance between the two species. Though sometimes called "geep", they are not to be confused with goat-sheep chimerae, which are artificially created.
Two weeks ago, Paddy Murphy, who also owns Murphy’s pub in Ballymore Eustace, saw that an unusual looking lamb had landed from a ewe.
This is the most Irishy thing I've ever read. I must assume it is satire.
posted by Think_Long at 5:59 AM on April 4, 2014 [37 favorites]
This is the most Irishy thing I've ever read. I must assume it is satire.
posted by Think_Long at 5:59 AM on April 4, 2014 [37 favorites]
Ewe've goat to be kidding.
posted by ian1977 at 6:04 AM on April 4, 2014 [18 favorites]
posted by ian1977 at 6:04 AM on April 4, 2014 [18 favorites]
Goats getting it on with sheep? I blame gay marriage.
posted by dortmunder at 6:05 AM on April 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by dortmunder at 6:05 AM on April 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
One day years ago I was really bored at work, so I spent some time looking up what happens when zebras breed with various zebra-compatable critters. I give you the zorse and the zonkey.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:09 AM on April 4, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 6:09 AM on April 4, 2014 [7 favorites]
I guess it has to be geep, because shoat already means a baby pig.
That poor little baby has the innocent-yet-sinister look of a future evil villain before it all went wrong. I hope they treat it right and don't give it any reason to exact vengeance on us all.
posted by bleep at 6:11 AM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
That poor little baby has the innocent-yet-sinister look of a future evil villain before it all went wrong. I hope they treat it right and don't give it any reason to exact vengeance on us all.
posted by bleep at 6:11 AM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
I call bullshit on that "zonkey." Clearly that 's just two teenage goth girls in half a donkey costume.
posted by griphus at 6:13 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by griphus at 6:13 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
OMG, I had no idea how cute Zonkeys are!
posted by oddman at 6:18 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by oddman at 6:18 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
The mother sheep keeps asking to have her baby back in that video. The farmer really should put the geep down; it's freaking the mother out how much attention her baby is getting. Seriously- even in the shots of the baby running around with the mom, she's very careful to try and put herself between the baby and the camera.
Sorry. Animals that are stressed out stress me out. But I am glad I got to see the geep. I was worried they were hoaxes, like cabbits.
posted by EinAtlanta at 6:21 AM on April 4, 2014 [8 favorites]
Sorry. Animals that are stressed out stress me out. But I am glad I got to see the geep. I was worried they were hoaxes, like cabbits.
posted by EinAtlanta at 6:21 AM on April 4, 2014 [8 favorites]
I think geeps already existed in the Seuss canon.
posted by k5.user at 6:21 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by k5.user at 6:21 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
That is one adorable critter.
posted by Elly Vortex at 6:24 AM on April 4, 2014
posted by Elly Vortex at 6:24 AM on April 4, 2014
A great source of craic for the lads in the pub, now.
posted by Segundus at 6:27 AM on April 4, 2014 [11 favorites]
posted by Segundus at 6:27 AM on April 4, 2014 [11 favorites]
Actually this is the most Irishy thing: "He has been a great source of craic for the lads in the pub"
posted by oinopaponton at 6:28 AM on April 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by oinopaponton at 6:28 AM on April 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
If sheep go to heaven and goats go to hell, what kind of existential nightmare is left for this guy?
posted by PuppyCat at 6:29 AM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by PuppyCat at 6:29 AM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
If sheep go to heaven and goats go to hell, what kind of existential nightmare is left for this guy?
Limbo Geep!
posted by ian1977 at 6:34 AM on April 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
Limbo Geep!
posted by ian1977 at 6:34 AM on April 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
"When did this little fella land?"
I suggest "Spock" as a name, until something better comes along.
And I dearly hope he doesn't become a 'nuisance'.
posted by allthinky at 6:36 AM on April 4, 2014
I suggest "Spock" as a name, until something better comes along.
And I dearly hope he doesn't become a 'nuisance'.
posted by allthinky at 6:36 AM on April 4, 2014
Hrm. Wonder if it will grow up to be fertile.
Wikipedia says "A sheep-goat chimera may be fertile, but it passes on either sheep or goat genes, depending on whether its reproductive organs were formed from the goat embryo or from the sheep embryo (i.e., whichever germ-line formed the ovaries or testes)." But that's only artificial ones.
posted by zarq at 6:45 AM on April 4, 2014
Wikipedia says "A sheep-goat chimera may be fertile, but it passes on either sheep or goat genes, depending on whether its reproductive organs were formed from the goat embryo or from the sheep embryo (i.e., whichever germ-line formed the ovaries or testes)." But that's only artificial ones.
posted by zarq at 6:45 AM on April 4, 2014
ArbitraryAndCapricious: One day years ago I was really bored at work, so I spent some time looking up what happens when zebras breed with various zebra-compatable critters.
Zebroid is the term for such hybrids, and I love it. Thank you, ArbitraryAndCapricious and the internet!
PuppyCat: If sheep go to heaven and goats go to hell, what kind of existential nightmare is left for this guy?
This was my first thought, too. The middle ground is Purgatory, right?
posted by filthy light thief at 6:59 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Zebroid is the term for such hybrids, and I love it. Thank you, ArbitraryAndCapricious and the internet!
PuppyCat: If sheep go to heaven and goats go to hell, what kind of existential nightmare is left for this guy?
This was my first thought, too. The middle ground is Purgatory, right?
posted by filthy light thief at 6:59 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Wouldn't want to be the one to shear him, with those horns and that goaty attitude. But I'd give anything for a sample of that wool...
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 7:07 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 7:07 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
I was worried they were hoaxes, like cabbits.
Cabbits are real! Happens all the time wherever rabbits intermingle with cabbages.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:10 AM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Cabbits are real! Happens all the time wherever rabbits intermingle with cabbages.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:10 AM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
Wouldn't want to be the one to shear him, with those horns and that goaty attitude. But I'd give anything for a sample of that wool...
Wouldn't be that crazy. Cashmere and mohair come from goats, after all.
What is more distressing is that it's in a sheep pen. It can probably hop that little three-foot fence already.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:15 AM on April 4, 2014
Wouldn't be that crazy. Cashmere and mohair come from goats, after all.
What is more distressing is that it's in a sheep pen. It can probably hop that little three-foot fence already.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:15 AM on April 4, 2014
Sheep dog has his work cut out - the Geep was straight in for the headbutt
posted by fistynuts at 7:27 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by fistynuts at 7:27 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
omzonks, that Zonkey is adorable!
posted by context adventure at 7:27 AM on April 4, 2014
posted by context adventure at 7:27 AM on April 4, 2014
That "geep" ewe sure looks like a SHEEP ewe to me! This is just an elaborate hoax perpetrated by Big Village Pub and Big Irish Farm Media to drum up support!!!
WAKE UP GEEPLE!!11!!!!1!!!1!
posted by Luminiferous Ether at 7:38 AM on April 4, 2014 [10 favorites]
WAKE UP GEEPLE!!11!!!!1!!!1!
posted by Luminiferous Ether at 7:38 AM on April 4, 2014 [10 favorites]
I'm not clicking on the Zonkey link, because that let's me go on believing that somewhere out there is a half zebra - half monkey.
posted by Ned G at 7:43 AM on April 4, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by Ned G at 7:43 AM on April 4, 2014 [7 favorites]
If sheep go to heaven and goats go to hell, what kind of existential nightmare is left for this guy?
Purgoatory.
posted by cortex at 7:56 AM on April 4, 2014 [26 favorites]
Purgoatory.
posted by cortex at 7:56 AM on April 4, 2014 [26 favorites]
And, best of all. . .
MetaFilter: A great source of craic for the lads in the pub.
posted by The Bellman at 7:56 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
MetaFilter: A great source of craic for the lads in the pub.
posted by The Bellman at 7:56 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Goats getting it on with sheep? I blame gay marriage.
Thanks, O'Bama.
posted by slkinsey at 7:58 AM on April 4, 2014 [11 favorites]
Thanks, O'Bama.
posted by slkinsey at 7:58 AM on April 4, 2014 [11 favorites]
If sheep go to heaven and goats go to hell, what kind of existential nightmare is left for this guy?
Limbaaaaggghhhhh
posted by Think_Long at 7:59 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
Limbaaaaggghhhhh
posted by Think_Long at 7:59 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
I missed the link to the zonkey on my first read through the thread and had to scroll back up to find it.
I'm not ordinarily a person who giggles at cute things, but HO HO HO HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 8:11 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm not ordinarily a person who giggles at cute things, but HO HO HO HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 8:11 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
That dog is awesome! I want to go visit them so much! I hope somebody with a tender heart buys the mom and the baby and just loves them and teaches the baby to do goat agility!
Thanks, O'Baaaaaama.
posted by amtho at 8:13 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
Thanks, O'Baaaaaama.
posted by amtho at 8:13 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
A shoat is a baby pig, as noted above. However, I would submit thus:
A baby sheep is a lamb, and baby goat a kid. So as young, it would be kamb or lakid. As an older animal it would be a geep or a sheoat (to avoid confusion with a shoat).
But the most appealing hybrid to my ear: shkid (like SKID with a sh at the start) (though it's wrong, pairing an adult term with a young term.
They refer to the animal as "he", though I don't know if they can't tell because they can't get to him (so by default he, like humans) or if he is a he.
Looking at adult male terms, it's Ram and Buck ... so instead of geep, maybe Rack? Bum?
Looks like, from my casual searches, the female name comes first though (which is why it's a sheep-goat hybrid and not a goat-sheep hybrid).
Maybe
Sheep+Ram+Buck =Shrambuck
Sheep+Ram+Goat+Buck =Shraguck
I still like shkid.
I wonder if he'll survive to maturation and be able to breed. Looks like we'll know by fall, as male sheep and goats can move into the breeding pens at that point.
posted by tilde at 8:20 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
A baby sheep is a lamb, and baby goat a kid. So as young, it would be kamb or lakid. As an older animal it would be a geep or a sheoat (to avoid confusion with a shoat).
But the most appealing hybrid to my ear: shkid (like SKID with a sh at the start) (though it's wrong, pairing an adult term with a young term.
They refer to the animal as "he", though I don't know if they can't tell because they can't get to him (so by default he, like humans) or if he is a he.
Looking at adult male terms, it's Ram and Buck ... so instead of geep, maybe Rack? Bum?
Looks like, from my casual searches, the female name comes first though (which is why it's a sheep-goat hybrid and not a goat-sheep hybrid).
Maybe
Sheep+Ram+Buck =Shrambuck
Sheep+Ram+Goat+Buck =Shraguck
I still like shkid.
I wonder if he'll survive to maturation and be able to breed. Looks like we'll know by fall, as male sheep and goats can move into the breeding pens at that point.
posted by tilde at 8:20 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
More and more evidence that my default dress sense is " Irish farmer".
posted by The Whelk at 8:27 AM on April 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by The Whelk at 8:27 AM on April 4, 2014 [5 favorites]
Pony + ewe triplets = pewpewpew!
posted by Wolfdog at 8:38 AM on April 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by Wolfdog at 8:38 AM on April 4, 2014 [6 favorites]
Thanks, O'Bama.
I think you mean O'baaahma.
posted by The Bellman at 8:39 AM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
I think you mean O'baaahma.
posted by The Bellman at 8:39 AM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
As a journalist, I've learned to instinctively trust anyone who tells me their name is Paddy Murphy. Little trick of the trade there.
posted by quarsan at 8:59 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by quarsan at 8:59 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
As a journalist, I've learned to instinctively trust anyone who tells me their name is Paddy Murphy
Especially if Paddy Murphy is driving your taxicab.
posted by bicyclefish at 9:04 AM on April 4, 2014
Especially if Paddy Murphy is driving your taxicab.
posted by bicyclefish at 9:04 AM on April 4, 2014
Iä-ä-ä! Iä-ä-ä!
posted by The Tensor at 9:38 AM on April 4, 2014
posted by The Tensor at 9:38 AM on April 4, 2014
Yeah, goat eyes/pupils are some of the freakiest things ever.
posted by oddman at 9:39 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by oddman at 9:39 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Lovecraft spent his entire career trying to one-up the goat pupil and never quite succeeded. Horrible, monstrous things.
posted by cortex at 9:41 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex at 9:41 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
A shoat is a baby pig
So what do you get if you cross a shoat with a stoat?
posted by Panjandrum at 10:03 AM on April 4, 2014
So what do you get if you cross a shoat with a stoat?
posted by Panjandrum at 10:03 AM on April 4, 2014
Wouldn't want to be the one to shear him, with those horns and that goaty attitude. But I'd give anything for a sample of that wool..
I was thinking the same thing, first: if it does require shearing, that is going to get... interesting. But if you could figure out some way to pull it off, you could make clothing out of the wool that would be worth it's weight in gold, just for the chance to tell people how absolutely rare it was.
posted by quin at 10:15 AM on April 4, 2014
I was thinking the same thing, first: if it does require shearing, that is going to get... interesting. But if you could figure out some way to pull it off, you could make clothing out of the wool that would be worth it's weight in gold, just for the chance to tell people how absolutely rare it was.
posted by quin at 10:15 AM on April 4, 2014
I think geeps already existed in the Seuss canon.
In the Popeye canon, surely?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:24 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
In the Popeye canon, surely?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:24 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]
This is sounding more and more like the beginning of a fairy tale. Let's hope Paddy's sons and daughters aren't the greedy type. And stay out of the woods, and away from axes.
posted by bleep at 10:27 AM on April 4, 2014
posted by bleep at 10:27 AM on April 4, 2014
So what do you get if you cross a shoat with a stoat?
Long pork.
posted by me3dia at 10:34 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
Long pork.
posted by me3dia at 10:34 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]
The ewe was precious in this - so much love for her newborn.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 10:55 AM on April 4, 2014
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 10:55 AM on April 4, 2014
Yeah, goat eyes/pupils are some of the freakiest things ever.
Look closely at the pupils of the next horse you see. (Same deal, but you don't notice it on a horse because the iris is so dark.)
posted by bricoleur at 11:10 AM on April 4, 2014
Look closely at the pupils of the next horse you see. (Same deal, but you don't notice it on a horse because the iris is so dark.)
posted by bricoleur at 11:10 AM on April 4, 2014
"Look at that little guy!" seems to be the most common utterance from my office these days. Which is not a bad thing.
posted by maxwelton at 11:11 AM on April 4, 2014
posted by maxwelton at 11:11 AM on April 4, 2014
I just learned about sheep/goats in zooarchaeology, and now this just complicates things.
posted by kendrak at 11:14 AM on April 4, 2014
posted by kendrak at 11:14 AM on April 4, 2014
I'm just glad to know there is a website for the Irish Farmers' Journal.
posted by Curious Artificer at 1:53 PM on April 4 [+] [!]
Not only that, it's an actual success story in the newspaper business:
posted by Curious Artificer at 1:53 PM on April 4 [+] [!]
Not only that, it's an actual success story in the newspaper business:
There is only one national newspaper in Ireland that has seen its print circulation grow both over the past year and since 2006. Owned by a trust, it reinvests the profits it makes in its community. Its journalists are specialists, and are promoted as specialists in their bylines. Confident that its information and expertise is too valuable to be given away for free, it is the only Irish newspaper to have a metered paywall on its website.posted by rollick at 11:43 AM on April 4, 2014 [3 favorites]
"Geep," definitely. Assuming barnyard hybrids use the same naming convention as the big cats, i.e. sire + dam. If his father was a sheep and mother a goat, then he'd be a "shoat" (or "sheoat" as tilde suggests above).
posted by zakur at 1:30 PM on April 4, 2014
posted by zakur at 1:30 PM on April 4, 2014
I just learned about sheep/goats in zooarchaeology
After getting a vague handwavey description of this in my Archaeology 101 course, I assumed they were much more closely related and am now surprised/disappointed that they are from separate genuses.
posted by Sara C. at 2:24 PM on April 4, 2014
After getting a vague handwavey description of this in my Archaeology 101 course, I assumed they were much more closely related and am now surprised/disappointed that they are from separate genuses.
posted by Sara C. at 2:24 PM on April 4, 2014
He looks a lot like the primitive breeds of sheep to me (like Soay for instance). I hope the little fella gets to grow up, if only out of curiosity what he'll look like fully-grown.
posted by Gordafarin at 2:24 PM on April 4, 2014
posted by Gordafarin at 2:24 PM on April 4, 2014
I can't help but be deathly curious about what it would taste like.
posted by rollick at 2:44 PM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by rollick at 2:44 PM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]
It's an abomination and signifies the end times!
THANKS OBAMA
posted by Hairy Lobster at 4:18 PM on April 4, 2014
THANKS OBAMA
posted by Hairy Lobster at 4:18 PM on April 4, 2014
Babe: Baa ram ewe!
Geep: Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
Babe: Uh-oh....
posted by valkane at 6:38 AM on April 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
Geep: Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
Babe: Uh-oh....
posted by valkane at 6:38 AM on April 5, 2014 [1 favorite]
That poor little baby has the innocent-yet-sinister look of a future evil villain before it all went wrong. I hope they treat it right and don't give it any reason to exact vengeance on us all.Thank you, 'cause I immediately thought of Ringing Bell.
posted by bleep at 6:11 AM on April 4
As a warning, this is one of the most incredibly annoying supposedly-for-kids movies ever. However, if you would prefer teaching your kids Jack London's "Mistress Nature will bleed you out and laugh" philosophy, this is an excellent introduction and I invite you to step on over to YouTube.
posted by DisreputableDog at 2:03 AM on April 7, 2014
I can't help but be deathly curious about what it would taste like
Meh. It's not bahhhd.
posted by tilde at 12:45 PM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
Meh. It's not bahhhd.
posted by tilde at 12:45 PM on April 7, 2014 [1 favorite]
In other goat news: Goat Simulator to receive splitscreen multiplayer
posted by homunculus at 9:06 PM on April 7, 2014
posted by homunculus at 9:06 PM on April 7, 2014
Guys! There's a new zonkey! His name is Khumba and he lives in Mexico. Here is the relevant galavanting zonkey video.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:00 PM on April 25, 2014
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 3:00 PM on April 25, 2014
Wobbly lamb learns to walk thanks to home-made baby bouncer
posted by homunculus at 12:25 PM on April 26, 2014
posted by homunculus at 12:25 PM on April 26, 2014
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posted by Curious Artificer at 5:53 AM on April 4, 2014 [10 favorites]