Yesterday, I mentioned ice climbing, how about this? This is a several hundred foot sheer cliff in Glacier National Park (Montana). I watched for an hour as this mountain goat climbed from the river bottom to the forest shelf. The mountain goat's feet are designed for climbing steep, rocky slopes, with pitches of 60 degrees or more. The feet have inner pads that provide traction and cloven hooves that can be spread apart whenever needed. Dewclaws, which are like secondary hooves on the back of their feet give them a better grip to help to keep them from slipping. I think of our feet -- toes, in particular. We can clench the toes, but that is about the extent of our control. Mountain goats, on the other hand, must have complete control of their feet, much more like the control we have over the fingers in our hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment