24
Wednesday, August 10, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
gOATS: Restoration
seems to have
expanded territory
Continued from page 1
Regional Office.
After a discussion with
Heath about the possibility
of a unicorn or polar bear on
Three Fingered Jack, Heath
said, “We’re too far south for
a polar bear, and don’t ask me
about unicorns, I know noth-
ing about them.”
Then, with a broad grin,
he added, “But if you want
to talk about mountain goats,
I’m your man.”
According to Heath, the
first attempt to reintroduce
mountain goats (aka Rocky
Mountain goats) to Oregon
was a small release back
in the early 1950s, into the
Wallowas of Eastern Oregon.
(Biologically speaking,
mountain goats are not true
goats, but they are close rela-
tives—more properly known
as “goat-antelopes.)
Up to the early 1980s
things were sort of in limbo.
Then a release was made
into the Elkhorns and the Mt.
Adams areas in 1983, and a
couple of years later a small
group of mountain goats was
Easier
Fly Fishing
with
Tenkara-style rods
spotted in the Strawberries,
near John Day (most thought
they had made it from the
Elkhorns).
Then in March of 2010 a
lone billy appeared at Horse
Ridge, 20 miles east of Bend,
in Dry Canyon. It was hard to
miss, that beautiful white coat
set against the dark basalt lava
rock cliffs on Dry Canyon.
He was captured and a
radio collar was placed on
him, and he was released.
Wildlife biologists are of
the opinion that he wan-
dered cross-country all the
way from the release in
the Elkhorns way over by
Sumpter.
After being radio-tagged,
he eventually meandered
over into the Mt. Newberry
area where he met up with
a sweet little radio-collared
nannie — placed there by
Heath and members of the
ODFW mountain goat crew
— who eventually gave birth
to a kid. the fate of the kid is
unknown, as the nannie was
found dead last spring.
In 2013, combined efforts
of the Confederated Tribes
of Warm Springs and ODFW
biologists trapped 24 moun-
tain goats from the Elkhorns
group and released them
in tribal lands on the lower
slopes of Mt. Jefferson.
Historical literature and
archeological evidence tells
today’s biologists that Rocky
Mountain goats occurred
on Mt. Jefferson prior to
the appearance of European
Americans, and the region
still appears to be a good fit
for the species. ODFW last
surveyed the area in mid-July,
and counted 29 goats during
the aerial survey, including
two sets of twins.
Brady Wessel of Sisters
emailed to say he spotted a
mountain goat nannie feed-
ing on grasses on the side of
Forest Road 2076, near Link
Lake. Heath thinks this could
be one of the goats from the
group the Eshrick family spot-
ted on Three Fingered Jack.
Wessel said, “I was driving
back from Link Lake, when I
saw a white animal emerge
from the bushes on the left of
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Mountain goat mom and kids in the high country of oregon, thanks to the
restoration efforts of oDfW.
the road. I was a bit shocked
when I realized it was a goat!
It had small, pointy horns and
hooves, and looked a little
scruffy, perhaps from shed-
ding its winter coat. It ran up
the road when it saw me and
veered off to the right, going
back up into the bushes.”
Those who sight a moun-
tain goat should give them
lots of room. Don’t chase it,
or follow it. Just stop and let
the animal (any wild animal)
leave your presence in its own
time and space.
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