Goats' Dramatic Reaction to UPS Driver Crashing Truck Delights Viewers

A video has gone viral on TikTok proving yet again that goats are hilarious.

In the video, posted by @francescrockett95, a UPS driver can be seen driving away from a delivery on a property with goats in the yard. As he is pulling out of the driveway, he appears to hit or drive over something.

He screeches to a halt but not before all four goats appear to faint, falling dramatically on their backs with their legs in the air.

The video has been viewed over 22 million times, and has over two million likes, with many users joking in the comments that the goats were looking for an insurance payout, "Goats said 'we about to get paid'", said one user.

In a follow-up video, viewed over three million times, the truth is revealed. Viewing the same video but from a different angle, it becomes clear that the driver simply nudges one of the fence posts of the goats' pen, causing the goats to fall over in unison.

Fainting goats have proven popular with audiences before, with a video on YouTube from 2006 garnering over 26 million views, but why exactly are goats the most dramatic of animals? The act of fainting doesn't harm the goats, unless they fall from a height. However, they only do this when they feel stressed or threatened.

According to National Geographic, "This strain of livestock are properly called Myotonic goats but they go by a number of common names, including: wooden leg goats, Tennessee fainting goats, stiff leg goats, and nervous goats." They get their name from a genetic condition called myotonia congenita "which causes their muscles to briefly stiffen after they are startled."

National Geographic reports that one hypothesis for why goats react to fear in this way "is a cell mutation that inhibits them from receiving this muscle moving chemical. In other words, instead of responding normally, their muscles seize up." Due to the fact that the gene is recessive, goats are often cross bred with non-fainting breeds to avoid this anomaly.

User Melanie Baker commented, "Watched this 12,497 times and it's still freakin hysterical."

User Jacob Holden said, "When you trying to get that insurance payout."

Adam Bugos wrote, "My god this is the hardest I've laughed in so damn long!!! Thank you."

Newsweek has reached out to UPS and @francescrockett95 for comment.