There are said to be remote areas of the world where animals are killed for their horns. For example, ground rhino horns are said to bring healing or at least a somewhat increased virility. And in the Bavarian state forest, paying hunting guests already pay a surcharge for the horns of so-called trophy bearers. The state forestry’s current guide price for red deer antlers, for example, is 80 to 90 euros per kilogram of antler weight squared. To do this, the trophy holder in question must then be brought around the corner in a way that is appropriate for the hunter.
In any case, simply cutting the throat like we did with that billy goat at Königssee a few days ago is not possible. But its horns could also play a role in completely different traditional rituals.
The carcass, which a local in Schönau pulled out of the Königsseer Ache a short distance below the Königssee, had at least three cuts. One through the throat and two more, apparently made with a saw, at the base of the horns. The dead animal was also missing its ear tag, which is why the Berchtesgaden police said they had not yet identified the owner on Tuesday afternoon. However, the animal itself quickly turned out to be a Valais billy goat, and since then speculation about a possible motive has been circulating in the Berchtesgaden basin and in the parts of the Internet concerned with it.
These Valais billy goats enjoy a certain popularity around Berchtesgaden because over time they develop extremely long horns – exactly the kind that look particularly good on the hand-carved larvae for all the traditional Perchten, Krampein, Ganggerln and Buttenmandln. Real gems can easily make a larva thousands more expensive than a plastic imitation larva.
All of the scary figures were originally supposed to drive out winter, but they have long since been Christianized into grim companions of Saint Nicholas. As such, they will soon be back in season, and the first races will be taking place soon over in Salzburg. It’s still unlikely that a masked man will wander around so quickly with the new trophies from the goat he just killed. If so: Maybe he will have the missing ear tag on it.