If you had to choose between spending your time with a happy, smiling person and a miserable-looking or curmudgeonly fellow, what do you think you’d choose?
The happy person, obviously. No one in their right mind would consciously choose to spend their time with an angry person if given the choice.
As it turns out, animals share the same sentiment. And no, I’m not just talking about dogs, horses, or even crows which have all long been known to respond to human facial expressions.
A new study by The Royal Society has concluded that goats respond to human facial expressions, and they like it when we’re smiling.
If you’ve ever witnessed a baby goat bouncing around in the springtime, you might already believe that they’re able to experience emotions, at least within their own species. They seem so incredibly happy leaping off just about anything and everything.
Sometimes even in pajamas.
This study reveals some exciting news because goats weren’t raised to co-exist with humans. Yes, they were bred and raised to be domesticated farm animals, but they weren’t specifically bred to interact with us on a companionship level. Dogs and horses were both bred to be companion animals, so it makes sense that they would respond to our facial expressions.
It’s previously been unknown exactly how much the domestication of other animals has affected their behavior or their ability to perceive emotional cues. It’s certainly played a part in shaping how these animals’ brains work, but to what extent?
In this test put on in the UK, goats were released into a pen with a picture of a happy human on one side of it and an angry or disgruntled human on the other. They were free to roam throughout the pen and interact with the photographs for 30 seconds.
The faces showed varying levels of emotion throughout the individual trials.
Scientists found that goats tended to interact with the happy face first. They also found that the goats spent more time interacting with the happy faces overall.
This leads you to wonder: which other animals can recognize and react to our emotions? There have been so many instances that show that animals are emotionally intelligent creatures. They comfort each other when they aren’t feeling well. Elephants mourn their dead. Pigs make great companion pets if you’re alright with a massive farm animal traipsing throughout your house.
So, the next time you find yourself on a farm, or in close proximity to a goat, test this out for yourself! You might find yourself with a new barnyard friend by the end of the trip if you just crack a smile while you’re saying hello.
In fact, you may want to give this a try with all sorts of animals and conduct your own little experiments. If anything, you’ll make yourself happier by smiling more often. It’s true, studies have shown that smiling can actually increase your mood. It’s good to go about your days with a positive energy and attitude, anyway.
So there you have it, folks, goats like it when you smile. Aside from the pretty fantastic scientific discovery, this is such a fun thing to go through life knowing. Next time I see a little goat hopping around and having a good time, I’ll be sure to smile.
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