Peter Haan



Trad climber Santa Cruz, CA Oct 16, 2013 - 10:31pm PT That image of the goats mounted in a tree is famous. There are many others however as well. It is not likely photoshopped.



They are in an Argan tree. Native in Morocco or Algeria and now grown too in Israel. The tree has a fruit with a really hard nut in it which is rich in important and luxury Argan oil. The tree grows in forests actually in this region, covering 8,280 square kilometers. The Union has designated this as a UNESCO Bioshpere reserve even.



The goats poop out the nuts and that is one of the original ways the nut is brought to market. The fruit is pretty tough and nasty, apparently, and goats handle it pretty well.



Here is another less spectacular image. All this from Wikipedia:



