Schiess: Mountain goats shake off winter snow; soak up sun

A mile and a half from the Palisades Creek Trailhead in Swan Valley, my wife and I noticed all the pinnacles of the peaks were snow barren: except for one. On closer examination the “snow cap” turned out to be a Mountain goat enjoying the midmorning sun after a cold night.

It was just one of 14 that we would enjoy watching during our seven mile trek across the snow-crusted trail. None were very close as the snow in the bottom of the canyon is still deep, keeping these beautiful, white, sure-footed animals on the cliffs above the tree line.

To locate the animals among all the patches of snow in the cliffs, we had to look for their egg-shell white color as they lay or fed along the edge of the cliffs. The second one we saw was in a group of three working the edge of a cliffy ridge with the backlight illuminating off their white fur coats. In almost all the major cliff areas that we studied we found from one to five goats. In only three areas did we find evidence of them coming down to the creek; the willow areas were reserved for the longer legged moose.

In summer of 2014 the Idaho Department of Fish and Game counted 135 goats in the Palisades Creek area with 109 adults and 26 kids. From 1969 to 1971, the department transplanted 12 goats into the Palisades Creek area. That herd had increased to over 250 by 2013, populating the area that spills into Wyoming and as far as Grand Teton National Park.

Mountain goats are well suited to live in the cliffs of Palisades Creek. Their feet are designed for climbing the steep rocky terrain with their cloven hoofs that spread apart with inner soft pads to give them traction. Their sharp dewclaws, much like ice cleats, keep them from slipping on ice as well as the rocks. Their balance is uncanny as they can leap from rock to rock to get through the roughest terrain.

Mountain goats have a low reproduction rate, so the Department of Fish and Game have to be watchful of things that disturb them. Concerns include disturbances like heli-skiing, snowmobiling and new trails established through the cliff areas may hurt the fragility of the goats established there. The established trails for mountain biking, horseback riding and hikers are not a concern for the wildlife managers.

Both Idaho and Wyoming now allows limited hunting for them with Wyoming allowing eight permits while Idaho allows five.

“We allow a five percent harvest of the herd that we count each year,” said Paul Atwood of the Idaho Fish and Game who has studied the Palisades Creek herd extensively. “The aerial counts are done in the summer and the hunt opens in August because the winter disturbance is the most damaging to the herd. In the winter, disturbance from the air pushes the animals off the cliffs making them more vulnerable to predation.”

Predation comes from cougars, bobcats, wolves, coyotes and even Golden eagles. On our hike to look for the goats we saw the tracks of all but wolves; even a Golden eagle was flying around one group of goats. Kids born in March and April weigh only six to seven pounds and can be picked off by the large raptors.

After a three-mile walk up the Palisades Creek Trail and 45 degree temperature, the snow on the trail became mushy making walking a little more difficult on the way out. But the lone goat still rested on the pinnacle of the peak. The only evidence that it had moved in the three hour period, was that it had turned around and was laying the other direction to catch the full effect of the afternoon sun.