A goat beats the odds

The largest straw animal in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records has made it so far. 

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  Gävlebocken on Dec. 24 at 4:23 a.m. Swedish time.

• To the relief and delight of thousands of fans all over the world, the Gävlebock was still standing tall in the southern city of Gävle, Sweden as of this writing on Dec. 23. The hope and goal is that it will be a beacon of tradition, pride and successful Christmas shopping in the city until Dec. 25. Its odds for lasting that long are really low, but the fact that it hasn’t already been burned or otherwise vandalized is quite noteworthy. By this time in the 48 Decembers that the 42-feet tall straw goat has been re-built in the city, nearly two-thirds of them had already met their demise by mysterious arsonist or goatnapper. Unfortunately, it has been in mourning these last couple days because its "little brother,” a smaller straw goat made by school children, was the victim of some roughhousing and didn’t make it until Christmas this year. The world is hoping the big one does.

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• Here’s more on the fate of goats through the years: http://www.nordstjernan.com/news/sweden/1814/

• Follow the Gävlebock via webcam here: http://www.visitgavle.se/sv/gavlebocken