Mountain goat

“ The dangers mountain goats face are many. The mother goats are courageous protectors and devoted to their little ones. They guard them against the onslaughts of prowling wolves, pumas, bears and man.
The mountain goat must be ever on the alert. Freshets, avalanches and snow-slides are a few of the dangers he has to guard against. The mountain goat is an adult at two years. ”

“ At present the mountain goat extends from north-western Montana to the head of Cook Inlet, but it is not found in the interior or in the Yukon valley. Whenever man decides that the species has lived long enough, he can quickly and easily exterminate it. It is one of the most picturesque and interesting wild animals on this continent, and there is not the slightest excuse for shooting it, save as a specimen of natural history. Like the antelope, it is so unique as a natural curiosity that it deserves to be taken out of the ranks of animals that are regularly pursued as game. ”

“ I believe that the mountain goat will be the last of the big-game species of the open mountains of North America to be exterminated by man. The sheep, moose, caribou and musk-ox will go long in advance of the ubiquitous goat. In protected areas like Glacier Park and the Elk River Game Preserve of southeast British Columbia, the species should endure for a century, or perhaps for two centuries. ”

“ The mountain goat always runs up in case of danger, so that it is essential to get above them in order to hunt successfully. I started forthwith to climb to a ledge about 200 feet above the one on which the goat appeared. This involved an ascent of some 600 feet, as the strata had a gentle dip southward toward Mount Assiniboine, so that it was necessary to take the ledge at a higher point and follow the downward slope. I was well covered by intervening cliffs, and the wind was favorable. ”

“ It can not endure rain in winter! Everywhere in the United States where this remarkable species still survives, it should at once be given complete protection. In Glacier Park it is now almost a common occurrence for visitors to see wild mountain goats. I saw two myself, near the Sperry Glacier, in 1909, and the flocks are undoubtedly much more numerous to-day.
CARIBOU
In its summer coat, with its antlers “in the velvet”
Mentally and temperamentally the mountain goat is a remarkable animal. ”

“ The mountain goat has probably a better chance of survival in a wild state than any other American game animal, except possibly the Virginia deer. It is protected even from man by the extreme ruggedness of its mountain habitat and although it will probably be exterminated in certain localities, if given a moderate amount of protection it can hold its own throughout most of its range. ”

“ The center of the greatest abundance of goat appears to be in the coast ranges in British Columbia and southern Alaska and it is here that they are found low down the mountain sides and often close to salt water.
COMPARISON WITH SHEEP.
It is due to ignorance of the character of the country inhabited by mountain goat that so much has been written about an alleged antipathy between Oreamnos and the mountain sheep. It is singular that writers should go so far afield as to conjure up an imaginary mutual hatred to account for the undoubted fact that sheep and goat seldom live together. ”

“ The Mazama or Mountain-Goat.—The companion of the bighorn on the lofty mountains, but even more thoroughly a mountaineer, is the so-called mountain-goat, Aplocerus montanus, which, in spite of its long hair, short curved horns, sturdy legs, bearded chin, and general goat-like appearance, 274 and more than the goat's ability to climb, is in reality more nearly related to the antelope than it is to the sheep. ”

“ Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus americanus) , old female, Lake Chelan, Washington, March 6, 1937. (Forest Service photo by Oliver T. Edwards, No. 348491.)
In spite of the protection accorded them, the mountain goat has not become tame. In driving over Stevens Pass, King County, one can, with the aid of glasses, usually pick out one or more mountain [Pg 408] goats on nearby mountains. Nevertheless, I have never seen one within 100 yards of a highway, nor heard of one being killed by cars on a highway.
The mountain goat does not, as a rule, allow close approach by man. ”

“ Hidden below these rocks are the hibernating marmots and the sleeping ground squirrels. Beneath the snow the mice, shrews, and pocket gophers struggle on with their lives. But above ground, directly confronting this arctic climate, are the pika, the ptarmigan, and the mountain goat.
A triumph of adaptation, the mountain goat faces the winter day without benefit of either the pika’s den or the ptarmigan’s snow roost.
The nanny and kid descend from their 111 ledge to search out browse at treeline with other members of a loose band—yearlings, young males, other nannies with kids. ”

“ In the East the mountain goat never can be more than an object of temporary curiosity, as he cannot long survive the rigors of our Atlantic summer. A number of young goat have been captured in British Columbia for exhibition in the New York Zoological Park, but while very docile, and taking readily to the milk of domestic ewes, they all died before shipment except the four now on exhibition at the Park. ”

“ The Rocky mountain goat is about the size of an ordinary sheep, and its general appearance is not unlike that of a sheep of the merino breed, its long, straight hair hanging down in an abundant white fleece.
Frequently goats are found wild in mountainous countries, scrambling among rocks and bushes; are extremely sure-footed, and display great strength and agility in leaping. These include the Markhor, the Alpine ibex, or Steinbock, and the Izard. ”

“ Fortunately, however, the successful hunting of the goat is not always thus perilous, for though he habitually selects for his home the roughest and most inaccessible peaks to be found in the mountains, [243] yet he sometimes ranges on more favorable ground, and if the sportsman be so fortunate as to find him there he may be killed and saved. They range somewhat lower in winter than in summer, but never even then venture down into the cañons or valleys, as do all the other large mountain animals. ”

“ The twisted or wrinkled horns of an old he-goat are not despicable weapons. As the reward of many hours’ hard clambering, varied by wading through ice-cold torrents, and spiced, it may be, with some danger, the goat hunter may secure a long pair of curving horns, or in mid-winter a thick, warm pelt, sometimes, though rarely, pure white. Moreover, he may feel that he is ridding the mountain pastures of an unlicensed competitor of that sacred quadruped, the sheep. Goats are by no means welcome on sheep-runs. ”

“ Until recently, when man became a menace, he had but few, and no serious, enemies. Being alert and capable among the crags, and in defense of himself exceedingly skillful with his deadly sharp horns, [Pg 15] he is rarely attacked by the lion, wolf, or bear. True, the kids are sometimes captured by eagles.
There are a number of species of wild goats in the Old World—in southern Europe, in many places in Asia and in northern Africa. The white Rocky Mountain goat is the only representative of his species on our continent. ”

“ All through the goat country occur patches of forest and it is there that the goat is found, between timber-line and the snow fields. So far as we know the only grazing done by the goat, beyond nibbling at small plants, is on the slides when the grass first appears and it is probable that to this habit the greatest mortality of this animal is due, as many are killed each spring by the avalanches on these snow slides. ”

“ The goat often does not die nor does he surrender for some time after receiving a number of fatal wounds, but fights on with telling effectiveness. I imagine he will absorb as many or more bullets, and temporarily survive as long, as any animal in existence. He has the vitality of the grizzly bear. Mountain goats, as the cowboy said of the western horse thieves, “take a lot of killing.” ”

“ Statements by certain writers regarding the existence of the goat in Wyoming, Colorado, California, and even New Mexico, are extremely misleading. It is positively known that no goat have ever existed on Mt. Shasta, although this mountain has been a favorite locality for stories about mountain goat and the mythical ibex. The origin of these fables is easily traced to the former existence on Mt. Shasta of mountain sheep, the horns and bones of which are still occasionally found there. ”

“ The first specimens of the mountain goat to be described, came from the Cascade Mountains on the Columbia River in Oregon and of course now stand as the type of Oreamnos montanus, having been first described by Rafinesque in 1817. This subspecies is intermediate in size between the eastern form of American goat, O. m. missoulæ, and the large Canadian O. m. columbianus, and, is characterized by a short but broad skull. The true Oreamnos montanus extends from about the Canadian boundary, south through Washington into Oregon. ”

“ The species of true wild goats are not numerous, but are very generally distributed over the world—particularly over the old continents. In America only one wild species is indigenous: that is, the Rocky Mountain goat. Some authors have asserted that this species is not indigenous to America; but most certainly this statement is an error. From its peculiar appearance, as well as from the locality in which it is found, it could never have sprung from any known domesticated breed. It is a long-haired creature, snow-white in colour, and with very short straight horns. ”

“ If near a cliff they climb rapidly, jumping when necessary, and rarely stop while in sight. Evidence of the [Pg 409] presence of mountain goats is usually seen in the form of tufts and strands of wool. Their wool becomes caught in bushes and rough rocks and seemingly pulls out easily.
The range of the mountain goat in Washington includes the entire Cascade range from Mt. Adams and Mt. Saint Helens north to the Canadian boundary. They extend west to Mt. Baker, Mt. Higgins and Mt. Index and east to Lake Chelan and, in the Wenatchee Range, east of Mt. Stuart, perhaps almost to the Columbia River. ”

“ The mountain goat brings forth two or three young at a time, usually late in May or early in June. Slightly gregarious, being frequently found in small bands in winter, but in summer season not more than a single family is usually seen together, and in summer and fall the older males may frequently be found entirely alone. ”

“ The distribution of the genus is limited by the character of the mountain ranges, rather than any other consideration, and too much emphasis cannot be placed on the fact, that of all our North American animals the white goat is the only one absolutely confined to precipitous peaks and ridges, which even the mountain sheep seldom approach. ”

“ Captive antelopes and deer often kill themselves by dashing madly against wire fences, but I never knew a white goat to injure itself on a fence. Many a wild animal has died from fighting its shipping crate; but no wild goat ever did so. A white goat will walk up a forty-five degree plank to the roof of his house, climb all over it, and joyously perch on the peak; but no mountain sheep or deer of ours ever did so. They are afraid! Only the Himalayan tahr equals the white goat in climbing in captivity, and it will climb into the lower branches of an oak tree, just for fun. ”

“ LOCAL DISTRIBUTION.
In a mountainous country it is perfectly easy to say where goat are to be found, if there are any in the neighborhood. They descend, of course, into the upper limits of the forests, but always keep near to cliffs to which they can retire when attacked. Sometimes swim rivers and have been killed while crossing the Stickine far into the forests. Salt-licks have been found in the hillsides, where great holes have been eaten out by these animals. The trails which lead to some of the licks in British Columbia are worn so deeply as to resemble buffalo trails. ”

“ So complete is the protection the goat finds in broken rocks and precipices, that they are practically out of danger from any animal approaching from below, except bear, which frequently lie in wait for them and occasionally capture an unwary individual. The eagles take a very heavy toll from the young goat in the spring.
The difficulty of reaching the mountain tops is, of course, a protection against man, but the conspicuous color and the slow movements of the animal make it a comparatively easy victim when once reached by hard climbing. ”

“ Only those sound of wind and limb can venture after Oreamnos. The first rule in goat hunting is to go to the highest point that can be found and this point is apt to be very high.
HABITS.
The sight of a man does not seriously disturb a goat and it seems to be of indifferent power of vision. Sounds affect it even less. The constant falling of rocks and stones and the rumble and breaking up of the glaciers, close to which it finds its home, has led the goat to distrust the warning of its ears. Shouting at a goat only arouses a slight curiosity and the report of a rifle has scarcely more effect. ”

“ A hunter in these mountains requires many pairs of shoes (i. e., moccasins) , the rocks are so rough and sharp that a pair of good strong moose-leather shoes are soon torn to pieces. The white goat is [not] larger than the gray sheep, thickly covered with long, pure white wool, and has short black, nearly erect horns. These animals seldom leave the mountain tops; winter or summer they prefer the highest regions. Late in the evening my hunter returned, exhausted, and covered with ice, having labored in the snow till his clothes became all wet, and soon after stiff with ice. ”