In the process of foraging with mother, young animals also learn the skills they need to make meals of the different kinds of foods they encounter. Just as you learned how to eat corn on the cob or tacos, a young animal must develop different techniques for grasses, leafy plants and shrubs.
The rate at which goats and sheep are able to consume grasses and shrubs increases with experience. In the study shown at right, bite rates nearly doubled as experience increased from no experience to 30 days of browsing blackbrush shrubs. Younger animals 6 months of age learned foraging skills more readily than older animals 18 months of age.
Click to watch an experienced goat eating blackbrush
The young goat shown in the appetizer video was trying to eat blackbrush for the first time. You can see the difference experience makes in this vide. His herd mate was experienced at biting off blackbrush stems and leaves.
