Rocky Mountain Goats
This past August after leaving Mount Rushmore and traveling along Highway 89 in the Black Hills, we stopped at a highway turn-out for some photos. Looking at the beauty of the landscape and odd rock formations as well as searching for wildlife, it was then that I spotted several Rocky Mountain Goats just hanging out below and to my right on the rocky granite cliffs.
Rocky Mountain Goats are not native to South Dakota. In 1924, six of these goats were gifted to nearby Custer State Park by the Canadian government. Excellent climbers, those six goats quickly escaped their penned area and headed to the craggy granite core of the Black Hills for refuge.
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Today, their primary range now extends over 32,000 acres at elevations from about 4,000 feet to over 7,200 feet.
Once fall and winter approach, the Rocky Mountain Goat’s fur coat will grow longer and quite shaggy to protect them from the elements.
Rocky Mountain Goats are grazing animals. Their diet includes grasses, herbs, sedges, ferns, moss, lichen, and shrubs.
As I watched and shot some wonderful photo ops, the goats skillfully climbed and stood on sides of granite as if it was no accomplishment. It was quite amazing!
These goats are so beautiful, Donna! I hope they will outsmart the hunters until end December. Thanks for this great climb 🙂
They are beautiful, aren’t they! I swear they appeared to be smiling at me. 🙂 Thanks so much, Helen!
Donna, I agree with you to stop the hunting of these beautiful animals! Great shots! 🙂
Thanks so much, HJ! Fingers crossed they outsmart the hunters! 🙂
Your captures are wonderful. We saw them too last year and loved watching them. The babies were beyond cute.
Thanks so much, Ingrid! There was a single small one in this group but I couldn’t get a focused shot, he was behind a rock. He was adorable!
dovrebbe essere vietata la caccia, nessuno può fare del male ad animali cisì belli! il loro pelo così candido e soffice contrasta con il grigio delle rocce, splendido contrasto di splendide foto
bellissilo incontro!
grazie
Annalisa
Thank you so much, Annalisa! It is amazing how they stay so white with the elements of the landscape and weather. Hopefully, they are able to outsmart those hunters!
Terrific captures Donna!!!
Thanks so much, Steve!!!
Wonderful photos of these incredible animals!
Thanks so much, Belinda!
Great photos! In all the years I have travelled to the mountains, I have only seen the goats once! Lucky You!
Thanks so much, Jane! I was giddy with delight when I saw them, especially getting to watch them climb so effortlessly! 🙂
great photos of the goats! I didn’t know that there were any in the Black Hills, I’ve seen them in the Canadian Rockies, and their ability to travel on rock is amazing.
Thanks so much Jerry! They make rock climbing look effortlessly, it is quite amazing. 🙂
Love your beautiful pics Donna of this beautiful goat. Goats always amaze me how they climb abd keep balance on cliffs and rocky outcrops.
Thank so much, Ashley, they were so beautiful; and I was so giddy with delight to have spotted them! Watching them ‘walk’ up sides of rocks was truly amazing!
They really are beautiful!
They really are, and so white, just amazing!
What wonderful photos, Donna. Such beautiful animals. I can’t imagine shooting one of them.
Thanks so much, Maralee! I had hoped to locate some of them while we were in the area. This small group more than filled my wishes! Let’s hope they outsmart the hunters. 🙂
You must have been a bit of a mountain goat yourself to take some of these enjoyable pictures.
With all the climbing and descending hikes over the summer, you just may be right. 🙂
Thanks so much for the post. I was totally unaware of Rocky Mountain Goats. They are adorable subjects.They almost seem to have a self-awareness of just how cute they are.
Thanks Lisa, and you’re welcome. I could have stood there all day and watched them, sometimes they did look like they were grinning at me. 😉
Beautiful, Donna! Thanks for sharing. I remember watching mountain goats while we were on a trip in Alaska, and the mother was moving quickly down the steep cliffs, seemingly paying no attention to the kid behind her. We held our breath as we watched the little one try to keep up with momma – and he/she did! I guess you either make it or you don’t, if you are a goat on a mountain, and you have to learn at a young, young age!
Thanks Susan, and you’re welcome. I didn’t include photos (not focused well) of a little one trying to climb up to an adult, maybe his momma; he then fell a good 6-8 feet, but somehow someway he landed on his four hooves on another rock ledge. I almost croaked watching it happen! lol 🙂
You got some excellent shots of them!
Thanks so much Terry! Seeing others later far in the distance, I was super-thrilled that we saw that first group up so much closer! 🙂
I agree, they are far too cute to shoot. Lovely images. How did you get photographs with them so high on the rocks?
Thanks so much, Donna! The rock formation they were on was to my right, almost eye level and I shot at 300mm. It was right place right time for sure!
Oh how cool! I especially love the second image.
Thanks so much, Denise! They look almost tamed, don’t they? I enjoyed their sweetness but was glad I was at a distance! 🙂
I loved your photos.
Thanks so much! I really had a great time sighting them and trying to get photogenic poses. 🙂
You are right, these are remarkably beautiful creatures. I raise dairy goats so I have an affinity for goats. These Rocky Mountain Goats are actually goat-antelopes, I looked it up since there are structural differences as compared to our domesticate goats. I love all goats, though, including these. Thanks for the glorious pics !!
Thanks so much for your comments and info! The name goat-antelopes makes sense, and I too just looked them up and saw the connection to Rocky Mountain Goats. Again, thanks, I’m always interested in learning something new each day! 🙂