HOOFED MAMMALS: Mountain Goat Stories-VI

The Columbia Icefields has brought me a lot of luck. Here are several photos taken at various times from various mountains along the Icefields: In the first photo I am above the Mountain Goat looking down. In the background you can see far below the tops of 150 foot fir trees.

The next photo is a close-up of the previous photo:

In the following photo taken a little later in the year you can see the Mountain Goat beginning to shed his coat. Again I am above looking down. In this case we are very near the tree line.

Here, above the tree line, I was fairly close, but the Mountain Goat was distracted be something to my right.

Here I am below the Mountain Goat who is a thousand feet or more below the tree line. While he is a the ledge, the drop is only about 30 feet to where I am standing:

This next one is one of my favorites. He looks so regal. If the African Lion is the "King of the Jungle" then the Mountain Goat is "King of the Mountain." As a general rule Mountain Goats stay far above the range of its potential predator the Mountain Lion. Most Mountain Goat deaths come from Golden Eagles that fly close enough to cause Mountain Goats to lose their footing. (True more of the young goats or kids than adults).

And lastly, quite close and showing off his beautiful coat: