A mountain goat above Lake Cushman on the Mount Ellinor Trail. Taken in the Olympic National Forest on the Olympic Peninsula
The Olympic Peninsula and Olympic National Park have a history of mountain goat incidents. From goats following hikers for miles down a trail to goats goring and attacking hikers, these beautiful creatures are not as calm and tame as people seem to think. In the past four years, there has been an increase in goat attacks and throughout the region. In 2010, a man was gored while trying to chase a goat away. The goat gored him in the femoral artery and he bled out on Klahhane Ridge. By the time search and rescue arrived, he was dead. In 2012, the Mount Ellinor trail was closed due to aggressive mountain goat behavior for an entire summer. The US Forest Service spent every day on the mountain developing ways to scare goats, as well as changing their behavior toward humans. While the methods proved effective for a short while, within a year aggressive goat behavior was observed firsthand by the author of this post.
On a late summer day in 2013, I was standing at the top of Mount Ellinor trying to take pictures that can properly show the awesomeness and ruggedness of the mountain. While hiking to the top, I had encountered a young male mountain goat way off trail, scrambling around on a ridge. A few hundred feet more in elevation and I noticed a nanny and two kids (mountain goats) lying in the saddle that leads to the winter route, well off trail and out of the way. They appeared lethargic, napping away in the sun, not so much as glancing at me as I continued to the summit. I made a note to keep an eye on them when I could, but soon became engrossed in the view and the framing of pictures. As I was wrapping up and leaning over a cliff face to take a picture, I heard a noise behind me and saw three mountain goats 15 feet behind me. Knowing to keep my distance, I stayed perched on my rock, which seemed to be precariously hanging over a thousand foot drop.
For 35 minutes, the nanny goat and kids hung out at the summit, blocking any possible exit for me. They were mostly calm, so I figured they would eventually leave or someone would come up and scare them away. Neither scenario happened. The mom would occasionally grunt while looking directly at me, but I would stand up and yell and she would back up a few feet. It appeared everything was calming down and the goats were starting to leave when the young male from earlier charged full speed around a corner and tried to ram one of the kids. The nanny goat, understanding the threat from the young male, charged back and soon both goats were grunting at each other just a few feet from my ledge. Unsure of what to do, I tried to remain silent; but once the adolescent male ran away, the protectant mother placed her front two legs on the rock and snorted at me. I stood up yelling, waving my arms wildly, and hoping to scare her away. For a second, she remained locked in, maintaining eye contact with me before she nonchalantly turned around and led her kids to safety. As soon as she was out of sight, I jumped down to the main trail and high-tailed it down to my car.
I kept this story to myself, except for a few close friends and family for fear that the goat would be killed, as is the fate with other problem goats. In my scenario, the goats did nothing wrong so calling and complaining about them would only cause harm to a creature looking to protect her children. The only unnatural thing about the story I just described was me, sitting on a rock over a cliff. While no phone calls to forest service were made, I did make this list of rules (with help from wildlife experts) to make sure that everyone stays as safe as possible when around mountain goats and other wildlife.
Six Simple Rules to Stay Safe around Mountain Goats
Be Alert! Mountain Goats could be lurking around every corner
Be Alert
You should always be looking and listening for animals, people and anything else that you may see or hear while on a trail. An alert hiker is a safe hiker. With goats, they can round a corner and you can be eye to eye with them, so be aware of them. Make noise and proceed around blind corners with caution.
A sign about peeing on the Mount Ellinor Trail, Olympic Peninsula
Pee at Least 50 Feet Off the Trail (But 50 Yards is best)
Goats are kind of nasty, but extremely smart. They crave salt and will lick anything that has a high salt content, including human urine. Knowing where humans are and that typically they will urinate on or near a trail, they will frequent that area because it is a dependable lace to get salt. If you have to urinate while hiking, it is smart to do so at least 50 feet off of the trail, but you should try to get 50 yards off trail. While that may seem like a pain to some, having to hike between 50 and 150 feet off a trail is better than peeing on a trail and dying from a goat attack because of your laziness.
This is not safe. Stay 50 yards away from Mountain Goats at all times!
Stay 50 Yards away from goats at all times
This rule is most often broken. Goats, while cute and cuddly looking, are dangerous aggressive creatures and need to be treated with respect and caution. You are not a goat whisperer. You can’t know what a goat is thinking, so don’t be an idiot and stay away from them. If you remain 50 yards (150 feet!) away, you will be safe from an attack. If they start approaching you, leave, do not think they are coming toward you because they want to be friends. I know this reads like I am writing to complete morons, but you would be surprised what you see on trails…
Who’s trail. Her trail! A Nanny Goat on the trail at Mount Ellinor. Olympic Peninsula
The Goats Own the Trails
Animals own the trails, not you. If a goat is on a trail, stop 50 yards away and wait for them to leave the trail. If they don’t leave the trail, you might have to turn around and head back to where you came from. Sure, this might not be ideal, but again, being cautious will keep you and the goat alive for a long time. Do not sit close to the animals and think that just because they are lying down that they are safe. Far too often people will approach animals lying down to get a picture and end up getting chased. If you can’t get a good picture with your camera, go home and buy a better lens. Do not get closer to the animal!
Do not feed the wildlife! A nanny and two kids on Mount Ellinor, Olympic Peninsula
Do Not Feed or Let a Goat Lick You
No wild animal should be fed by humans, unless they are a wildlife expert. This includes deer in your yard, chipmunks on a trail or goats along the rocky summit. Not only can your food cause serious digestive and health problems, but it also gets the animals dependent on people for nourishment, causing them to get closer and closer to hikers. If you do eat on a trail, pick up every single crumb. Do not leave orange and banana peels, apple cores or anything else that is not 100% natural to the area.
A mountain goat baring it’s teeth at me on Mount Ellinor, Olympic Peninsula
If a Goat Approaches You
Despite the majority of us following these extremely simple rules, mountain goats will more than likely push these limits. If a mountain goat is moving toward you, yell and scream at it while waving your arms. If you need to, throw rocks at it, but make it count.Whether the goat looks aggressive or not, they need to develop fear for humans or they will attack someone else. Why ruin a good thing. Be safe, follow these rules and enjoy nature!
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