NARRATOR:
The Pacific Northwest provides beautiful places for recreation, with outstanding scenery and
wildlife viewing. We hope for safe and healthy interactions
for people and wildlife.
The U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, and Washington and Oregon Departments
of Fish & Wildlife would like to offer this advice when recreating
in areas that mountain goats call home.
Hiking, camping, and climbing in mountain goat country provides great challenges and
personal rewards. it also presents opportunities to interact
with mountain goats. These encounters can be either positive or
negative experiences, depending on the behavior of people AND goats.
Interaction between goats and people has been observed for years.
These wildlife experts have some practical advice to guide these interactions:
So what our job to do is to both observe the mountain goat behavior,
and also how the visiting public interact with mountain goats when they encounter them
on the trail. What we are going to be looking for is how
close those goats approach people, and also how close the people approach goats.
I want to point out three aspects of goat biology that are integral
to setting up the situation that we are concerned about: the interactions between goats and
people. The first is what we are seeing here: this
very steep terrain is where goats like to spend time.
This is their way of getting away from predators. Unlike some species that get away from predators
by running, goats will be very happy to stay in this kind
of area. So they don't necessarily run from people.
A second aspect of goat biology is their natural hunger for salt
that occurs principally in the late spring/early summer -- May, June, July - this time of
year. Many places goats are attracted to natural
salt licks where they'll spend time. People are another source of salt for goats.
The third piece of the puzzle that is of somewhat a concern is that,
despite the facts that goats may appear to be docile and very gentle creatures, within goat
society, they're actually pretty aggressive. Goats
do a fair amount of defending their own turf, butting each other with their horns. So that,
should that situation occur with people getting too close, there is some danger from
goats because they can be fairly aggressive with each other -- they're generally
not aggressive with people, but they have the capability to become rather
belligerent.
I'm standing here on the top of Mt. Ellinor, just made a long hike up to the peak here.
As you can see it's a pretty small area up here. There's not a lot of room to maneuver.
There's not a lot of room for people AND goats. So that's why it's important for
us, when we're up here, to hold this ground
for ourselves, because to allow goats in here would be too much into our personal space.
So the first thing I always like to do is just to make sure that I account for my gear,
and then my gear is secure and not providing its own set of attractants for the goats.
My clothes have sweat on them by the time I am up here - my pack straps and my hiking
pole straps. So I want to keep that stuff near me and make
sure that I'm not separated from it too much
so that the goats can get at it and chew on it because, number one, it could ruin my gear,
but also provides them with a bad example if I allow them access to that.
So that if I see a mountain goat up here, the first thing I am going to do is just
start talking to it in a regular voice and letting it know that I am here, and trying
to get it to move off, because there is just not enough room for
us both to be on this peak together. It's really tight quarters and that has
recipe for a bad situation if I let it get too close.
So, I'm gonna just start talking to it saying, "Hey, goat. Hey, goat. Go on. Get out of
here." Try to use just as low a voice as I can to
get it to move off.
If it doesn't move off, I raise my voice and create more movement, and so forth.
Really, don't be afraid to yell. I mean, project your voice out there:
"Hey! Get out of here! Go! Go!" Really, really project it out there.
None of this stuff is rocket science.Its just about making your presence known.
It's stuff that anybody can do: just letting the animal know you are there, standing firm,
standing your ground if it does try to approach you up here.
And if necessary, picking up some small rocks and throwing them in their direction.
It's kind of asserting your right to exist and have your own personal space up here.
What we're recommending in order to keep goats wild and people safe is:
Never allow goats human food. Number one: don't feed them.
Try to avoid allowing goats salt, either from your body, your pack, clothing.
Urinate off the trail so that the trail doesn't become a long attractant for the goats.
In summer, when goats are attracted to salt, and they approach you in an insistent way,
stand your ground, yell, wave your arms, be aggressive toward the goat in that situation.
However, once summer passes: if you are in the autumn and there's a goat that's approaching
you closely, particularly if you can tell it's a male
goat -- a billy goat -- at that point we are recommending that you it space. Don't
challenge it because it may, in fact, challenge you back.
You don't want to get into an aggressive situation with a male goat in the fall.
So give it plenty of room -- as much as you can because, at that point, it is no longer
interested in salt: It may actually view you as a competitor for
mates.
NARRATOR:
To summarize, please follow these guidelines to keep goats wild:
Keep your distance and stay at least 50 yards away from them, half the length of a football
field.
If a mountain goad approaches, slowly move away from it to keep a safe distance.
If it continues to approach, stand your ground, chase it off by yelling,
waving a piece of clothing or throwing small rocks.
In the fall give mountain goats more space and move out of their way.
Never surround, crowd, chase or follow a mountain goat.
Maintain control of your companion pets.
Do not feed the mountain goats or allow them to lick your skin or backpack.
If you need to urinate while hiking or camping, please go away from the trail to avoid leaving
concentrations of salt and minerals near the trail.
All of our goal is to welcome the public to both the park and the forest,
and to enjoy your recreation opportunities, because it is YOUR national park
and YOUR national forest, and to enjoy wildlife that inhabit these
areas in an appropriate way, and have a safe and fun visit. And also know
where to go if you have problems: to let us know if you encounter mountain goats,
especially those that are behaving in an aggressive manner.