I sleep a little easier every night since visiting the fortress at Quebec City – knowing that when invaders try to conquer the citadel, Canada’s elite royal guard have a secret weapon up their sleeve. State-of-the-art blue felt body armour. Razor-sharp solid golden horns. A breed distantly related to killer whales and ferocious arctic wolves. Canada’s War Goat (named Baptiste X, of the 22e Régiment) is the stealth bomber of the Canadian defence strategy. We were transfixed as he used his keen sense of smell to break down a soldier – the dude was scared stiff. Couldn’t even move.

I shouldn’t poke too much fun, because I love weird ceremonies, and my grandfather was a member of the royal guard in Ottawa. But when they marched the goat out at the beginning of the changing of the guard, Natasha and I looked at eachother with raised eyebrows, and re-checked the tourist guide to be sure we were in the right place.

Really? A goat?

(There’s two conflicting sources naming the goat – Vandoos.com claims it’s Baptiste- meaning Baptist, La Citadelle’s website claims it’s Bâtisse – meaning ‘fortress’. The first mascot goat was given to the Vandoos by the queen in 1955, subsequent goats, including Baptiste X, are direct descendants.)