08/06/2026
Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus).
My story:
Boy, was I up for a treat, when getting up the peak of Mt. Evans!(renamed to Mt. Blue Sky). I sure was not expecting to see this! Yes, we did see other wild grey colored goats on our way up to the top of the mountain… Beautiful and awesome to see, but man, was I happy like a kid to see the Mountain Goats with a baby! The mountain that gives you chills, when driving narrow winding pass with steep slopes and no guardrails… After climbing to the highest point of the mountain (14,266ft. = 4,348m.) and absorbing the 360° of pure heaven - a beautiful white ghosts emerged in my view… The Mountain Goats! Minding their own business, they kept their eyes on me. Holy moly! Feeling a little shaky from the altitude and excitement, I went for the “killer shot”, equipped with only 18-135mm lens, that I grabbed for some landscape shots. Not breathing, I fired up a few rounds of shots of those white, shedding thick patches beauties, before they disappeared into the steep rocks below… Nailed it!, I thought to myself… And oh boy did I ?!.. They did let me get comfortably close to them, since I didn’t bring my big lenses… I thought…😉 My 135 was more than enough to make me happy! The whole thing lasted only a few minutes. Talking about the right timing, I thought… They never came back again the whole time we were there… Had I come a minute later - would’ve never knew the white ghosts were there…
Cool facts:
- Mountain Goats are native to Western North America only. They are alpine and subalpine mammals and live in high elevation of the mountains, exceeding 13,000ft. ≈ 4000m. You are not going to see one unless you really go up there.
- Mountain Goats do not belong to a true goat family “Capra” but rather to a “Bovidae” that is with an antelopes, gazelles and cattle.
- Mountain Goats are extreme climbers and are capable of climbing near vertical positions.
- Main predators of the Mountain Goats are bears, wolves, mountain lions and Golden Eagles. They usually stay above the tree line for better survival so that minimizes chances with wolves and bears.
- Major source of Mountain Goats deaths are avalanches, which cause about 65% of mortality.
