Wrangling the beasts of ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’

We’ve heard about “The Men Who Stare at Goats” but what about the men who wrangle goats? The goats that had to bear the brunt of George Clooney’s psychic assaults were provided by animal coordinator Sled Reynolds and his company, Gentle Jungle. “I only keep about four or five goats,” Reynolds said. “We use them in nativity scenes. But we found a rancher near the set in New Mexico who let us use the 80 goats the film required.” Just like their costars, when they weren’t filming, they hung out in a trailer -- but with fewer amenities. And though Clooney didn’t really kill any goats, the effect wasn’t too far from reality. “We went out and videotaped fainting goats” -- goats bred to faint when startled -- “and used that for reference” for the visual effects team, Reynolds said.

-- Patrick Kevin Day