Mountain Goats
A Beast the Color of Winter

by Ken Retallic

The kid made a seemingly effortless climb up the face of a sheer-walled cliff soaring up from a white-water chute in the Salmon River. With fearless agility, the precocious young athlete scampered from one outcropping to another, pranced along razor-thin ledges, spun about almost willy-nilly, and then ambled off to explore other aspects of his new world.

His mom paid no attention to the frolicking child. As he continued his incautious play for close to an hour, she calmly ate an early evening dinner in the dwindling twilight.

Who could forget the serenity of such a scene in today’s helter-skelter world?

But, of course, the players in this tableau aren’t any ordinary mom and kid. They’re mountain goats, Oreamnos americanus, a unique species found only in North America that’s carved out its niche along the spine of the continent. The central-Idaho world the kid was exploring that early fall day is on the southern limits of the current range of the goat that’s not really a goat. It’s more closely related to the chamois of the European Alps, a musk ox of the Arctic or an antelope of the Asian steppes, than to the common farm yard goat. 

Regardless, any parent who’s raised a precociously athletic child knows full well why we call our children kids. Kids will be kids, and many are fearless whatever and wherever the species.

That aspect of their nature is part of a game Nappy Neaman likes to play with school children when he talks to them about these seemingly mystical animals residing in the mountains surrounding the upper Wood River Valley.

“During the school trips, it’s fun to ask the kids, ‘What animal are you like?’” said Neaman, who is often affectionately called “The Goat Man.”

The Hailey resident doesn’t always get the answer he wants from the kids, but the fervor he espouses in championing the monarchs of the crags quickly draws in converts, young and old, indolent or athletic.

Nappy Neaman looks through a new spotting scope above the Prairie Creek Trailhead on the Harriman Trail.

Get totally caught up in his rapture and you’ll be huffing and puffing as you tight-rope walk with him along the high ridges or snowshoe into the wind-swept bowls of the Boulder, White Cloud, Smoky, Sawtooth and Pioneer Mountains in search of up-close and personal views of the region’s mountain goats. His wife, Susan, and other dedicated souls, including Idaho Fish and Game and U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologists, often accompany him. Just as often, though, he’s off in the highlands alone checking on the vitality of the mountain goat bands he’s come to know, and pioneering new discoveries through 15 years of dedicated endeavors. Field notes in his journals routinely describe observations from 10,000-foot ridgelines, after hikes involving 3,000- to 4,000-foot elevation gains.

Still, Neaman, who manages The Elephant’s Perch outdoors store in Ketchum, also spends countless hours cruising State Highway 75 along the valley floor to stop at key locales. With a high-powered spotting scope he scans the highlands for mountain goats.

And, new this winter for other valley wildlife viewers, is a viewing site a short drive north of Ketchum equipped with an all-weather spotting scope set up to focus on perhaps the best mountain bowls and ridges in the valley to view the elusive mountain goat. Located near the Prairie Creek Trailhead of the Harriman Trail, the Blaine County Recreation District interpretive site is 18 miles north on State Highway 75.

The spotting scope focuses on the west slopes of Easley Peak and Silver Peak in the Boulder Mountains. The access trail into it begins just west of the highway parking pullout for Prairie Creek in winter. From there, it is about 1.25 miles up the trail from the summer trailhead parking lot.

Interpretive signs at the viewing site provide natural history information about mountain goats.
A second mountain goat viewing site with a spotting scope is planned for Billy's Bridge, also on the Harriman Trail but nearer to State Highway 75 at the Prairie Creek turn out. The U.S. Forest Service is scheduled to com-plete it in spring.

Cathy Baer, trail coordinator for the recreation district, notes that while the Boulder Mountains provide an excellent year-round habitat, their southwest facing, wind-swept slopes provide a more open environment for winter foraging by the mountain goats.

There are an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 mountain goats in Idaho. A third or more reside in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and surrounding mountains.

At this stage in his efforts for the “beast the color of winter,” Neaman prefers an almost Zen-like approach to communing with mountain goats. But how did he get started, and why the advocacy for this particular animal?

“I did a movie this spring for Alpenglow Films (of Ketchum), who’s doing it for the Outdoor Network, and they continually asked me the same question.
“I do it just to be outdoors with nature—it’s a catalyst to be outdoors. It allows me to look, smell and listen to nature.

“They’re not my goats, they’re your mountain goats. The summary is this: When you go out, look, listen and feel where you are ... hear the birds sing. When you go out, drop all of your Monday to Friday, stop and relax.

“You can’t find the goats looking down (while racing up a mountain trail). They’re there; they’re watching you. Just stop and watch, feel nature.”
Again, he notes, “good glass”—high-powered binoculars or a spotting scope—is the key equipment to pack along wherever you go in search of mountain goats or other wildlife, as well as a tripod for a sighting scope or long-lens camera.

Southwest-facing and wind-swept slopes provide an open environment for winter foraging.

Neaman’s 15-year odyssey of tracking, watching, photographing mountain goats in their realm—and consequentially reporting on their vitality and advocating their protection—began by helping a friend.

“It was a bow hunt; it was so mystifying, the research involved ... and it was a really good hunt. A close-up hunt, where we really got in tight where you could look, listen and smell. The way we did it, you really, really got to get into it with nature.”

Over the years, Neaman has come to identify certain goats by their physical characteristics. That’s a research advantage to him, since wildlife management biologists have yet to radio-collar any of the region’s goats for tracking.

“They’re all natural,” Neaman said. “Like that female with the stub horn,” he said, pointing to a photograph in one of his three-ring-binder journals full of field reports. “I’ve tracked her for a number of years.”

In addition to the Easley-Silver peaks area, Neaman notes that the Baker Creek drainage of the Smoky Mountains, west of State Highway 75, also is a prime region to sight mountain goats.

On the north side of Galena Summit, Neaman said, another good mountain goat sighting spot is Abe’s Chair, behind Smiley Creek.

Southeast of Ketchum in the Pioneer Mountains, mountain goat sightings have increased significantly in recent years in the Hyndman Mountain drainage above the East Fork of the Big Wood River, Neaman said.

Perennial favorites of his for spotting mountain goat kids in spring are the ridges north of Trail Creek Road, east of Sun Valley, and the Summit Creek region on the east side of Trail Creek Pass.

But wherever you go in search of mountain goats, Neaman and other experts caution that they need their space, especially in winter and early spring.

Several years ago, Baer and U.S. Forest Service wildlife biologist Robin Garwood spent an afternoon looking for mountain goats with an Idaho Mountain Express reporter during an ongoing effort to chart their winter habitat.

The cold months are a critical time period for the goats, Baer said. Any extra effort they use to survive is likely to deplete their fat stores to dangerous, even deadly, levels. 

Unfortunately, when humans share the goats’ alpine habitat, stress on the animals increases. And with advances in recreation equipment, combined with spring’s solid snowpack, backcountry areas have become increasingly accessible to humans.

Those potential conflicts sparked collaboration between the Forest Service and the Stanley-based Sawtooth Wildlife Council.

“We hope to be able to document if it’s as much of a problem as we suspect it is,” Garwood said. “We know that goats lose weight through the winter just to maintain their internal body temperature. Disturbance can cause them to stress and burn precious calories. If this happens repeatedly, the goats may lack the reserves to survive to spring.”

According to information gathered in the study, goats are specific about where they winter, returning to the same areas annually. Generally, those areas consist of wind-scoured slopes, southern exposures or avalanche-swept chutes. The thin snows that persist in those places and therefore easily accessible food sources are the key draws for the goats.

These crucial areas can be identified and avoided, Baer said. A half-mile buffer between wintering goats and human visitors will give the animals the security they need.

Key wintering areas have been pinpointed in all the region’s mountains, including the White Cloud, Sawtooth, Boulder, Pioneer and Smoky ranges.
Helicopter skiing has been banned on the west slopes of the Boulder Mountains and Owl Creek drainage of the Smoky Mountains to protect the wintering goats. An unintended benefit for goats was the recent “snow pact” negotiated between snowmobilers and cross-country skiers that bans snowmobiles from key parts of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Garwood said.

However, for all other recreationists, officials are leaving the lion’s share of the responsibility to avoid wintering mountain goats up to those who enter the backcountry.

Education is key to protecting the goats, Baer said. The public is invited to learn about the winter ways of this alpine dweller and to voluntarily avoid intruding upon and disturbing its bands. Skiers and climbers can stop at the SNRA headquarters, north of Ketchum, to get current information on goat locations.

“No one wants to harm mountain goats,” she said. “We believe that once folks are aware of the needs of this unique creature, they will respect the very few places essential to them.” 

Douglas Chadwick, in his aptly titled book, “A Beast the Color of Winter,” reports the goat’s cloven hooves have two, wide-set toes that are prehensile. Goats can actually close and manipulate their toes for sure footing, or spread them wider for stability.

The eight toes can act individually, each doing whatever it takes to hold on. The toes are pointed, allowing the goat to dig into the dirt or snow as it climbs, and it can slow a descent by dropping its rump into a slide. The rump—with an extra thick hide to protect against horn jabs— makes a good set of brakes.

Neaman looks for mountain goats from a ridge in the Boulder Mountains, east of State Hwy 75

The goat’s massive shoulder muscles enable it to pull itself up hill, break trail in heavy snow and dig for food in winter. Some observers have watched mountain goats chin themselves up a ledge, using only their front legs—something no deer could do.

They range from southern Alaska south to central Idaho. During the last Ice Age, the species’ range once extended to Arizona and New Mexico, and it retreated north again as the periglacial climate warmed. Today, the southern limit of their range is marked by average temperatures of 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Nannies typically give birth to only one kid a year, occasionally two.

Adult nannies rank highest in the social order of a band serving as a reservoir of tradition and knowledge to teach the young how to safely travel across steep cliffs, find food and otherwise survive in their harsh environment.

Billies are typically loners, who occasionally gather together in smaller bachelor bands. During the late-fall rut, a dominant billy emerges that often reigns over more than one band of nannies in a region.

The kids are born in late May and early June.

“The apex is around June 7,” Neaman said. “One day there are no kids, but the next day there’re kids popping up everywhere.”

For their own safety, the kids have to be up on their feet within a half hour of their birth, he added.
The goat’s major predators include cougars and golden eagles, which are able to carry off newborn kids. The first year of life is crucial to kids, Garwood said. After that they do fairly well. Gravity—falls can be deadly—and winter are the goats’ worst enemies. Mountain goats live about a dozen years in the wild.

Hunting is not considered an “additive” in the management of mountain goats, so a very conservative hunting policy is in force in Idaho. Currently, only 54 controlled-hunt permits a year are issued by Idaho Fish and Game.•

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The Mountain Goat
Oreamnos americanus

They are members of the antelope family, a group that also includes related species such as musk ox and mountain sheep. Their closest living relative is the chamois of the Alps. As their Latin name, Oreamnos americanus, suggests, mountain goats are unique to the western part of North America.

For their own safety, kids have to be up on their feet within 30 minutes of being born. This nannie is shedding her winter coat.

Mountain goats are striking with their long, white hair that occasionally has a yellowish tan tone. Adults have long hair under their throat forming a “beard” that may be up to 5 inches long. Female mountain goats are called “nannies” and male mountain goats are called “billies.” Young goats are called kids. Both sexes have sharp pointed horns that curve up and slightly backward, in females they reach 9 inches, in males about 12 inches. Their hooves are well adapted to living on cliffs and ledges. They have a hard, straight outer margin, with soft and flexible inner pads that provide excellent traction in their precarious habitat.

Range
Mountain goats range from Southeastern Alaska, south to Washington and the Olympic Peninsula, to western Montana and south-central Idaho. They have been introduced in Colorado, Oregon, Olympic Peninsula of Washington, Beartooth Mountains of Montana, and South Dakota. 

Diet
Mountain goats are ruminants, meaning they chew on cud (similar to cows) which is then passed through multiple stomachs. Mountain goats graze on grasses in summer, but also browse on shrubs and conifers. Their winter diet is often variable; they may feed on mosses and lichens, as well as grasses, shrubs, and conifers.

Behavior
Mountain Goats have an aggressive social structure. The goats often push and shove each other—sometimes falling off cliffs. Adults will sometimes lift smaller goats and toss them, although the victims usually manage to catch themselves. 

Mountain goats do not butt heads. Instead they poke each other in the hindquarters or on the backside. As a result of this constant fighting, male mountain goats have developed an extra-thick layer of skin to protect their behinds. Biologists think that this aggressive behavior among mountain goats encourages the herds to disperse. Small bands of approximately six animals have a better chance of survival in harsh conditions where food is scarce. Nannies are most often the aggressors in these conflicts. Nanny goats will lay claim to the best cliffs on which to feed and produce their young.

The Boulder Mountains
Mountain goats roam across the spectacular south-facing slopes of the Boulder Mountains, just 16 miles north of Sun Valley. One interpretive site with a telescope has recently been completed on the Harriman Trail from which to view the goats without disturbing them.

Habitat
Environmental extremes characterize their habitat. They are found in high-mountain, alpine and subalpine habitat where extremes of temperature and weather occur. Throughout their range they can be found from sea level to about 8,000 feet, but they are usually at timberline or above. They favor steep grassy or talus slopes, grassy ledges of cliffs, or alpine meadows. During the winter they may seek shelter and food in stands of spruce or hemlock. They seem comfortable on precarious
cliff ledges and extremely steep, talus slopes.

Reproduction
Mountain goats mate in November, but the rutting season can last into December and even January. Males do not butt heads as do mountain sheep, but most of their rutting competition consists of threats, with occasional battles in which the males swipe their sharp horns at each other. Males have scent glands at the base of their horns, and will scent mark females they will breed with by wiping the side of their head on the female’s body. Gestation lasts about 178 days. One (sometimes two, occasionally three) young is born in late May or early June. Often young are born in a “safe” area consisting of a narrow ledge on a cliff or very steep slope; while this may seem dangerous for the newly born young, its location probably provides protection from predators.

The young are precocious and can scamper after
their mother with amazing agility. The young stay 
with their mother for a year until the next 
year’s young are born.•