A researcher who lived with a herd of goats on a Swiss Alp has been awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for biology. Thomas Thwaites, now perhaps better known as the GoatMan, had a good reason for wanting to roam the Alps.

Thomas Thwaites doing his GoatMan thing: Photo: Tim Bowditch

On his website www.thomasthwaites.com he explains that he wanted “to escape the angst inherent in being a human.” This meant that he had to leave behind his human form but he did not want to become a ferocious animal, like a bear, he has said. He settled on a goat. In order to become as goat-like as possible he spent time designing prosthetics after which he moved to a goat farm in the Alps, where he moved about on all fours with a prosthetic stomach strapped to his chest and ate grass.

The experience has provided enough fodder for a book. Look out for GoatMan: How I Took a Holiday from Being Human.

(Video: YouTube)