One man decided that the ultimate break from human life was a break from humanity itself! So, the goat life it was…
Thomas Thwaites decided to take a “holiday from human worries” when his 9-5 job become too stressful.
The British writer built special prosthetic arms and legs to mimic the movement of a goat.
Furthermore, he visited a behavioural psychologist and neurologist to try and turn off parts of his human brain and think more like the furry animal.
A biologist even created an artificial rumen for Thwaites. (The part of a goat’s stomach which helps breaks down grass.)
Thwaites’ plan was to live amongst a herd of goats for 3 days and luckily, The Welcome Trust accepted this premise and awarded Thwaites with a grant to fund his project.
Whilst this seems like a odd and silly idea, it still took it’s toll on the human body; going downhill with weight pressing on the arms was incredibly painful for the writer.
There was even a moment where one alpha goat decided to challenge him.
“Everyone had stopped chewing and was staring at me,” Thwaites explains.
“But before it came to a fight, luckily a goat that I had been hanging around with a lot sort of diffused the situation by walking through the herd, and we all sort of moved along the hillside together.”
Thwaites says that this unique project was a “meditative experience” and was similar to some mental health techniques which teaches you how to disregard past, present and future.
And, now the question we all want answering….
Yes, “Some grass tastes better than others.”
Let’s hope this guy didn’t do this on his journey!
