Where the Wild Things Are

March 31, 2020 7:40 AM

Here is a short video about some stylish goats taking over the empty streets of Llandudno. That is all. Single link youtube. More links

Llandudno is a coastal town in north Wales. It’s known for North Shore Beach and 19th-century Llandudno Pier, with shops and a games arcade. Northwest of town, the cliffs of Great Orme headland jut into the sea. Ancient tunnels lead to a cavern at Great Orme Mines. A 1902 tramway has an upper and lower section, and travels to the headland’s summit. To the east, smaller headland Little Orme is a nature reserve.
Weather: 8 °C, Wind N at 8 mph (13 km/h), 66% Humidity
Population: 20,701 (2011)

posted by glasseyes (21 comments total)

This tooooown
Is coming like a
Goat town
posted by The Whelk at 7:44 AM on March 31, 2020 [24 favorites]

if there’s a bustle in your hedge row
don’t be alarmed now
it’s just some goats
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:50 AM on March 31, 2020 [13 favorites]

They are Kashmiri goats, originally a gift to Lord Mostyn from Queen Victoria says the Guardian.

The Great Orme Goats are one of Llandudno’s icons, they are a well-known sight in Llandudno, making their home on Llandudno’s Great Orme.

The goats originally come from the royal herd, themselves descended from a pair which were a gift from the shah of Persia. The Great Orme Goats are considered wild animals and have a herd of 60 strong (from some Llandudno hotel's website)

Also the guy who set the goats to West Side Story inexplicably edited some video of wild boars into the footage ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by glasseyes at 7:51 AM on March 31, 2020 [1 favorite]

So many childhood holidays spent in that town...
It's the world centre for research into new forms of rain. In memory, the "beach" is made entirely of meteorite fragments. It's handy for day trips to Blaenau Ffestiniog (hint: don't go to Blaenau Ffestiniog)
A strange, doomed town that's been strange and doomed for going on a century now. Street-goats barely register on the everyday weirdness scale in North Wales.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 7:55 AM on March 31, 2020 [15 favorites]

Also the guy who set the goats to West Side Story inexplicably edited some video of wild boars into the footage

Those are the Bergamo boars, who've also been featuring on twitter this morning.
posted by scorbet at 8:00 AM on March 31, 2020 [1 favorite]

I support them
posted by poffin boffin at 8:02 AM on March 31, 2020 [3 favorites]

🎶 High on a hill lived a lonely goatherd 🎶
posted by Kitchen Witch at 8:16 AM on March 31, 2020 [1 favorite]

47 Goat Puns That Aren’t So Baaaaaaaad (If You’ve Goat The Time)
posted by lalochezia at 8:19 AM on March 31, 2020

We glimpsed the goats on the Great Orme when we were there last summer, but my strongest wildlife memory of Llandudno was the hundreds of jellyfish on view from the pier. Also not to be missed are the Alice in Wonderland statues. It’s a lovely and delightfully weird place.
posted by skybluepink at 8:28 AM on March 31, 2020 [1 favorite]

They didn't film The Prisoner there did they?
posted by glasseyes at 8:36 AM on March 31, 2020

That was Portmeirion down the coast. Llandudno is more organically weird, so it's not as pretty.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 8:39 AM on March 31, 2020 [2 favorites]

Thanks
posted by glasseyes at 8:41 AM on March 31, 2020 [1 favorite]

Llandudno Alice in Wonderland Trail google search
I think it would be nice to visit when this is all over.

thatwhichfalls (eponywhasit!) I'm not sure at all if you are joking about the rain.
posted by glasseyes at 8:46 AM on March 31, 2020

I'm not sure at all if you are joking about the rain.

Not at all, he says, having lived in Llanfairfechan just down the coast. You don’t know what chilly, grey, wet days are like until you’ve lived through a Welsh summer.

(I remember one joke about how Llandudno had so many retired people that the shop windows were bifocal)

And Blaenau? It has a certain charm ;-)

But now you’ve got me wanting an all-day breakfast in Pete’s in Llanberis...
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 9:05 AM on March 31, 2020 [11 favorites]

And Blaenau? It has a certain charm ;-)
Look, I like slate. I especially like Welsh slate - I could bend your ear off about the lovely deep blue Dolwydellan slate, with it's intertwined threads of pyrite and quartz.
Blaenau takes slate too seriously.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 9:31 AM on March 31, 2020 [3 favorites]

I once had mushrooms on cheese on toast in a cafe in Llanberis ... the sheer delicious rightness of it stays with me getting on for 30 years later. And Welsh rain is not like other paltry precipitations. It's insidious and tiny and somehow wetter.
posted by Martha My Dear Prudence at 9:34 AM on March 31, 2020 [4 favorites]

I've always wanted to visit Wales and these goats are only increasing my desire

Frankly I wish my town were overrun by wild goats. It would make this whole "collapse of civilization" thing a lot more entertaining
posted by SystematicAbuse at 9:40 AM on March 31, 2020 [4 favorites]

A friend claims that clip inspired this tweet.
posted by doctornemo at 11:24 AM on March 31, 2020

I love how they're just out and about, doing whatever the hell they please. Jumping on rock walls, eating hedges.
posted by stripesandplaid at 7:00 PM on April 1, 2020

I’ve always wanted to visit Wales...

You might want to consult Blackadder first.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:20 PM on April 2, 2020

In further Welsh ovicaprid news, a flock of sheep takes over a playground in Monmouthshire.
posted by scorbet at 4:15 PM on April 20, 2020