Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

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Arthur Digbee

 
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Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by Arthur Digbee » Sun Oct 17, 2010 10:58 pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11562054

Mountain goats are aggressive critters.
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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by mrchad9 » Sun Oct 17, 2010 11:18 pm

I still don't get why the feds spend so much energy and go to such lengths to protect game animals. If they are endangered, that's one thing, but these things are hunted.
So no incidents that warrant killing the goat? How about the known aggressive behavior? And why were they shooting it with bean bags if there were no prior incidents?

How many more people will have to die at the hands of hostile, federally empowered militant goats?
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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by Arthur Digbee » Sun Oct 17, 2010 11:38 pm

mrchad9 wrote:How many more people will have to die at the hands of hostile, federally empowered militant goats?

Like these?

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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by brianhughes » Sun Oct 17, 2010 11:45 pm

Arthur Digbee wrote:
mrchad9 wrote:How many more people will have to die at the hands of hostile, federally empowered militant goats?

Like these?

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And remember Dick, whatever you do, don't go pointing that thing at anyone's face.
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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by Bob Sihler » Sun Oct 17, 2010 11:57 pm

It's time to kill all the wildlife so the wilderness will finally be safe for humans.
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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by Bob Sihler » Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:08 am

This article has additional details: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/428578_hiker17.html?source=mypi.

A commenter mentioned that mountain goats are not native to Olympic NP. Is that true?
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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by lcarreau » Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:24 am

Bob Sihler wrote:This article has additional details: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/428578_hiker17.html?source=mypi.

A commenter mentioned that mountain goats are not native to Olympic NP. Is that true?



Quote from OPA (Olympic Park Associates) :

"Introduced to the Olympic Mountains in the 1920s, the non-native mountain goats reproduced unchecked, reaching an estimated population of 1,175 in less than 60 years. In the late 1960s, members of Olympic Park Associates and the Port Angeles-based Klahhane Club notified the National Park Service (NPS) of soil erosion and damage to alpine and subalpine plant communities caused by grazing, trampling, and wallowing of these introduced animals."

Kind of makes me wonder if the pesky critters are even needed there. How 'bout shipping them all to Arizona ???

:wink:

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Arthur Digbee

 
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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by Arthur Digbee » Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:58 am

Bob Sihler wrote:A commenter mentioned that mountain goats are not native to Olympic NP. Is that true?


Uh, that one has a really long answer. Want a bibliography?

Cliff Notes version:
    1. Mountain goats are found elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest so it would be weird for them not to reach the Olympics at the end of the last ice age.

    2. But the Olympics are a biological island in other respects.

    3. There is no evidence of mountain goat bones in any archaeological site in the area.

    4. There was trade in mountain goat yarn and woven goods in the region, so you can find traces of fur at archaeological sites.

    5. Goats were introduced by hunters in the 1920s.

    6. Species in biological islands go extinct (or are extirpated) at higher rates that species elsewhere.
So, were the goats in (say) the 1890s? Probably not, though there are unreliable reports of them.
Were there ever mountain goats in the Olympics?
Who knows?

The NPS hates them, and OPA has followed their lead. (I'm inclined to agree.) There's a pro-goat lobby, both hunters and a minority of environmentalists who think they're native.

You've been to Theodore Roosevelt NP, Bob: are the wild horses there "native" ?
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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by Mountainjeff » Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:16 am

I believe this is the first wildlife related fatality in the Olympic National Park (at least in recent history). The NPS made a fairly strong effort a while back to eradicate the goats, but gave up after a while and claimed that they had "stabilized" the population. I have had many encounters with goats in the ONP and never been threatened (aside from large rocks being pushed off the cliffs above...).
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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by MoapaPk » Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:19 am

Mountain goats in the Rubies of NV, and the Tushars or UT, seem to be pretty benign. They are kept in check by their natural enemy, the Chupacabra:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzSN7he2BUE[/youtube]
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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by Augie Medina » Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:28 am

Not to minimize the death of this poor guy attacked out of the blue, but I hope his estate doesn't go after the government claiming it should have had signs warning of wild animals. It's happened before.
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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by Arthur Digbee » Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:33 am

Mountainjeff wrote:I believe this is the first wildlife related fatality in the Olympic National Park (at least in recent history).

Wow. No mountain lions, no black bears? (Vampires or werewolves? :wink: )

I know that solo hikers disappear every so often in the backcountry. I'm sure some of those are suicides. But . . . .
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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by lcarreau » Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:23 am

I believe "aliens" are real.

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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by Mountainjeff » Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:52 am

Arthur Digbee wrote:
Mountainjeff wrote:I believe this is the first wildlife related fatality in the Olympic National Park (at least in recent history).

Wow. No mountain lions, no black bears? (Vampires or werewolves? :wink: )

I know that solo hikers disappear every so often in the backcountry. I'm sure some of those are suicides. But . . . .


There have been several bear and cougar attacks, but I cannot remember any of them being fatal. I am personally an advocate for the total eradication of all non-native species of vampires and werewolves... :twisted:

The solo hiker disappearances are certainly interesting... I remember one case a while back in which the missing individual was accused by the local media of being a Soviet spy. He was never found...
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Re: Mountain goat kills hiker in Olympics

by Moni » Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:30 pm

Mountain Impulse wrote:Not to minimize the death of this poor guy attacked out of the blue, but I hope his estate doesn't go after the government claiming it should have had signs warning of wild animals. It's happened before.


Apparently this particular goat had a history of aggressive behavior to the point that the Park Service had shot at it with bean bags to make it not like humans. Seems that it worked, but not in the way intended.
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