In the territory of Central Locride, the Aspromontana Goat survives, threatened by varieties introduced from various parts of Italy or even from abroad. Indeed, advancing successfully from the South, the Girgentina, originally from the province of Agrigento in Sicily, makes a clear path around the Aspromontana. The Girgentina has a uniform or monotonous coat, tending towards light fawn, very different from the goats in our region that express a proud beauty and astonishing diversity compared to all others. In fact, it was named after the coat it displayed, defined with terms derived from classical antiquity, Latin, or Greek.
The terms for defining varied from one area to another, and in some cases, they delved into minute details that are astounding to think about. For example, names were even derived from the color of the tips of the legs, different from the rest of the coat. It would be necessary to rescue from definitive oblivion the identification terms for the names of goats, derived precisely from their coats. To begin with, it started with always-open horns, and those with powerful horns were called Dragune, while those of the Girgentina are fairly closed. Then there were also hornless specimens, called Gulle, which means without horns, or even those with large ears, which were called Martisi because they originated from Malta.
Recently, a relatively docile variety of goat has been introduced from France. It has a white coat, sometimes tinged with black, and merits praise for producing more milk than the Aspromontane. However, according to defenders of the latter, the milk is much leaner compared to the milk of our local goats, so it yields much less. In fact, to obtain a cheese wheel weighing over a kilo, 15 liters of Aspromontana milk are needed, but to produce a wheel of the same weight with the milk of the French goats, about 20 liters are required. On the other hand, the French goats are much more peaceful and calm.
Last summer, I observed their behavior when I absentmindedly left the gate open to the field where I tend to a particular vineyard and garden. The French goats entered cautiously, almost politely, and tried to graze on whatever they found without specifically targeting the pepper, eggplant, and tomato garden. At the slightest invitation, they left somewhat reluctantly. A few days later, while heading towards Ferruzzano Superiore, now completely abandoned, I spotted an Aspromontana goat with a black and white coat, hence Jérina, perched on an olive tree and peacefully nibbling on the leaves. The olive tree had a slightly inclined trunk. In the summer when fresh grass is scarce, the Aspromontane goats, in search of something cool, also feed on the tender shoots of olive trees, even the older ones.
The shepherds with the most refined knowledge of the ancient pastoral world, unsurpassed masters in Central Southern Locride, are Benedetto Tuscano, who lives in the Stabile district of the municipality of Staiti, and Domenico Rodà, now retired, in the municipality of Bruzzano. They name the goats based on the minutiae of their coats. For example, they call a goat with a white face and the rest of the coat of a different color "Chalipa Janca," where Chalipa is derived from Greek and means "beautiful face." "Risorsina" was used for a goat with a coat tending towards light fawn, almost blonde, while "lafina" indicated a goat with a coat the color of a fawn.
For decades, Benedetto Tuscano has maintained the ancient variety of Aspromontana goats, from which occasionally a kid is born that will grow to have four horns. In such cases, there is an immediate demand for buying and selling; in fact, last year, a kid was sold to someone from Sicily. The four-horned goat occasionally appears on the mountains of Samo, in Stefano Bonfà's flock in the Litri district or in Pietro Brancatisano's flock in the Arcà district.
Years ago, Arturo Rocca from Locri, a retired administrative executive now working as a tour guide with expertise in our mountains, had an unusual encounter while leading a group of tourists on the mountains of Samo. They came across a powerful specimen of a four-horned Aspromontana goat, which did not escape his attention. It was a "zzìmmaru or Zzìmbaru" "castinu," or rather, "Chalipu Castinu," as the face had a different color from the rest of the coat, a beak with a light chestnut-colored coat and the posterior part of the body tending towards blondish, partly "risorsinu" or "blond," with a black face. It was sighted in the Arcà area on the slopes overlooking the La Verde stream and seemed to emerge from the darkness of a very distant past, even from the Neolithic when the wild goat aegagrus hircus was domesticated in the steppes of southwestern Asia, sometimes having four horns. This powerful and unusual sight impressed the tourists, who carried with them the image of a Calabria capable of always offering very strong emotions.