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Show Mountain Goats Are Doinq Well It's lonely on the craggy cliffs way up Little Cottonwood Cotton-wood Canyon, but that's where Utah's first mountain goats prefer to be. Those inquisitive dark eyes, staring out of a massive shroud of white hair crowned by spiked horns, are usually spotted by only the hardiest hikers. IN SUMMER, the remote Lone Peak area is a haven for these sure-footed goats, which often exist on vegetation shunned by other animals. Patches of white hair left by shedding animals, grazed foliage and matted bedding areas may alert hikers that mountain goats have been in the vicinity. The cloven goat tracks are larger and more square than deer tracks. In winter, it may be possible possi-ble to see a mountain goat from the canyon road. Even this is not an easy task against the wintery background. A goat will usually cast a yellowish shadow on the white snow. MALE GOATS, or billies, can be distinguished from females, called nannies, by the shape of their horns. A billy usually has a wider-based wider-based horn, which tapers quickly to the tip, while the horns of a nanny are more slender at the base. Billies are often solitary, and intolerant of the other animals. Nannies, kids and yearlings may be seen together in family units. Billies will seldom fight each other. However, unlike other big game species where fighting is often ritualistic, the billy's infrequent encounters en-counters may be "to the death." DIVISION OF Wildlife Resources big game supervisor, super-visor, Rodney John, says mountain goats are not dangerous to humans. More often than not, the animals are curious rather than shy around people. When John and a companion were hiking near Coalpit Gulch at about the 10,000-foot level several years ago, a nanny and a yearling came within 20 feet of them. The two men were able to watch and photograph the animals for several minutes. In July 1967 two billies and four nannies, Utah's first introduction in-troduction in recent years of an exotic big game species, were placed on the rocky slopes between Big Cottonwood Cotton-wood and Little Cottonwood - Canyons. They had been trapped on a salt lick above Lake Wenatchee near Wenatchee, Wash., and at the Tieton Ranger Station, Yakima County, Wash. THE RUGGED area east of Salt Lake Valley was selected as a suitable release site due to its rough, precipitous terrain and suitable vegetative vegeta-tive growth. Mountain goats are native to the northwestern United States and Canada. Rodney John comments, "We are always concerned about an exotic species replacing the native species, but there was a niche in the habitat here for goats not filled by any other big game species." THE MOUNTAIN goats seem to have adapted well to their new "southern" environment. en-vironment. Last spring several DWR personnel spotted spot-ted 19 mountain goats, including seven kids. Indications Indica-tions are that the population may include many more. Breeding season usually occurs during November, and the kids are born in late spring. Nannies (from the age of 3 to about 8) produce one kid each year, and on occasion oc-casion twins. THE FUTURE of the mountain goat in Utah may include a limited hunting season during the next several years. However, it is more likely that transplants to other areas along the Wasatch Front will be made, says Rodney John |