Charge!

I accidentally snuck up on this Mountain Goat, not seeing it until I was within 20 feet of it laying in a little recession along the High Lakes Ridgeline. Wanting to get a snapshot of it, I whistled to get its attention. The goat looked around but didnt see me, so I followed up the whistle with a "hey stupid". The Goat looked right at me, jumped up on its hooves (when I took this picture), then charged me. Its been my experience that when you startle wild animals they flee. This goat was having none of that though and barreled right at me. I made a quick 180 and ran back over the rise tossing a rock behind me to hopefully startle it out of pursuit. When I looked back from behind the safety of a tree, the goat had given up its chase, allowing me to resume my hike after catching my breath. I know your not supposed to run from predatory animals, but this was no predator and I had no desire to be "butted" by a mountain goat, thus a tactical retreat seemed like a wise choice.