Hidden Lake Mountain Goat
On the trail from the Logan Pass visitor centre to Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park I came across this mountain goat which was very (too!) relaxed around my fellow humans on the trail. The visible water is not the lake, but a small unnamed puddle on the way at an altitude of 2164m.
The Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus), also known as the Rocky Mountain Goat, is an even-toed ungulate of the order Artiodactyla and the family Bovidae. It is the only species in the genus Oreamnos. It is found only in North America where it resides at high elevations. A sure-footed climber, it often rests on rocky cliffs that predators cannot reach.
It inhabits the Rocky Mountains and Cascade Mountain Range regions, from northern Washington, Idaho and Montana through British Columbia and Alberta, into the southern Yukon and south-eastern Alaska. Its northernmost range is said to be along the northern fringe of the Chugach Mountains in south-central Alaska. Transplanted populations can also be found in such areas as Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, South Dakota and the Olympic Peninsula of Washington.
Mountain goats are the largest mammals found in their high-altitude habitats, which reach elevations of 4,000m or more. Although they sometimes descend to sea level in coastal areas, they are primarily an alpine and sub-alpine species. Throughout the year, they usually stay above the tree line, but will migrate seasonally to higher or lower elevations within that range. Summer-time migrations to low-elevation mineral licks often take them several or more kilometres through forested areas.
Although they have gained notoriety for their shows of aggression, mountain goats spend most of their time quietly grazing. Their diet includes grasses, herbs, sedges, ferns, moss, lichen, twigs and leaves from the low-growing shrubs and conifers of their high-altitude habitat.
Scanned from a negative.
Hidden Lake Mountain Goat
On the trail from the Logan Pass visitor centre to Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park I came across this mountain goat which was very (too!) relaxed around my fellow humans on the trail. The visible water is not the lake, but a small unnamed puddle on the way at an altitude of 2164m.
The Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus), also known as the Rocky Mountain Goat, is an even-toed ungulate of the order Artiodactyla and the family Bovidae. It is the only species in the genus Oreamnos. It is found only in North America where it resides at high elevations. A sure-footed climber, it often rests on rocky cliffs that predators cannot reach.
It inhabits the Rocky Mountains and Cascade Mountain Range regions, from northern Washington, Idaho and Montana through British Columbia and Alberta, into the southern Yukon and south-eastern Alaska. Its northernmost range is said to be along the northern fringe of the Chugach Mountains in south-central Alaska. Transplanted populations can also be found in such areas as Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, South Dakota and the Olympic Peninsula of Washington.
Mountain goats are the largest mammals found in their high-altitude habitats, which reach elevations of 4,000m or more. Although they sometimes descend to sea level in coastal areas, they are primarily an alpine and sub-alpine species. Throughout the year, they usually stay above the tree line, but will migrate seasonally to higher or lower elevations within that range. Summer-time migrations to low-elevation mineral licks often take them several or more kilometres through forested areas.
Although they have gained notoriety for their shows of aggression, mountain goats spend most of their time quietly grazing. Their diet includes grasses, herbs, sedges, ferns, moss, lichen, twigs and leaves from the low-growing shrubs and conifers of their high-altitude habitat.
Scanned from a negative.