V: Billygoat
There's always a red coat billy goat.
Good morning. Today is quintidi, the 5th of Ventôse, Year CCXXXI. We celebrate le bouc, an uncastrated male goat.
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The slit eyes of a goat aren't actually that unique – cows, horses, and sheep have them, too – but they're the most remarked upon because goats tend to have light-colored irises that cast the rectangular pupils in sharp relief. The reason for this shape is peripheral vision. By allowing light in from a broad horizontal range, goats can keep an eye out for predators in any direction but straight ahead and straight behind. The really cool part is the way their eyes can "level," keeping the pupils horizontal in parallel with the ground even when their heads are bent to eat or drink. That way they're not getting an eyeful of sky at their most vulnerable moment.
William Windsor II found himself selected for military duty with the Royal Welsh battalion on a late Prairial day of CCXVII (June 2009). Conscripted by the battalion and bestowed with the initial rank of fusilier, "Billy" – as he is known by his regiment – will serve for seven or eight years before he is allowed to retire with a full pension and a farm. He succeeds William Windsor I in this position, and there is only ever one, for, you see, the Royal Welsh always keeps a goat.
