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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016
Remembering the weather goats of Mount Nebo
Goats were
right 90 percent
of the time
By DAN BAIN
The News Review
ROSEBURG — It’s been
more than 35 years since the
world famous Mount Nebo
weather goats found new
homes after spending many
years unknowingly forecasting
the weather by their location on
the mountain across the river
from downtown Roseburg.
The herd consisted of only
a small group of Angora goats
originally. They were the true
weather goats. But over the
years, other goats joined the
herd and followed the Angoras
around the mountain.
From 1965 to 1979, the
goats roamed Mount Nebo,
and eventually, people who
watched the herd, igured out
they could get a good idea
what the weather was going to
be like the next day from the
goats’ movements. Those who
kept track said the goats were
about 90 percent right.
If the goats were at the top
of the mountain, it was likely
going to be dry and sunny the
next day. And if they were down
low, rain was likely on the way.
Ed Eaton was a teacher at
Rose Elementary School in
The News-Review
The News-Review
This image taken in the 1970s shows weather goats on
Mount Nebo in Roseburg.
Roseburg and his classes had
a good view of Nebo and its
four-legged inhabitants. He
used the weather-predicting
goats as a science project to see
how accurate they were. He
said they were pretty accurate.
“Yeah they were, it was
funnier than heck, and the
kids got a kick out of it,” said
Eaton. “I don’t know the per-
centage, but it was pretty dang
high.”
During their days of glory,
and after KRSB-FM Radio
began doing a goat forecast,
the goats became internation-
ally known for their forecast-
ing skills.
‘Scattered goats’
The forecast might be
“scattered goats,” which was
mostly sunny, or a “low goat
system,” which meant wet
weather was approaching.
The story was picked up by
NBC-TV News, and then other
media from around the world
picked it up.
But when Interstate 5 was
redone around the base of
Mount Nebo, the face of the
mountain was altered and it
made it tougher for the goats
to navigate the hillside. They
became attracted to the tasty,
green grass by the freeway
intersection, which led to traf-
ic problems. After a few goats
were hit by trafic, oficials
decided they needed to do
something.
They tried to fence the
goats in, but the goats eas-
ily igured out how to get
In this undated photo, state
highway workers install
goat crossing signs on In-
terstate 5 in Roseburg.
through or around that obsta-
cle. So oficials conducted a
goat round-up and adopted out
about half of the herd. The oth-
ers went to a ranch north of
Roseburg.
Goat controversy
Roseburg attorney Charles
Lee got involved in a goat
controversy in 1978 when
he was a prosecutor with the
District Attorney’s ofice. He
got the case involving two
Lane County teens who were
arrested for shooting a cou-
ple of goats with a bow and
arrow. He said the public out-
cry was sympathetic toward
the goats and called for the
District Attorney’s ofice to
prosecute. But it wasn’t that
easy.
“Animal protection laws
were different, and I had a
hard time inding a crime,”
said Lee. “The owner of the
property didn’t want to claim
the goats belonged to him,
which would have made it
a theft or livestock offense,
because he didn’t want to be
responsible if they caused
damage.”
A
19-year-old
from
Springield was eventually
charged with “taking up an
estray without irst notify-
ing the Department of Agri-
culture.” But that charge was
dismissed and he was charged
instead with leaving an ani-
mal carcass in a ield, a Class
A Misdemeanor. He was ined
$505.
The juvenile in the case
was not charged in adult
court.
In February of 1978, two
goats were killed by a car on
Interstate 5 and that prompted
the highway department to
put up a goat crossing sign,
thought to be the only one in
the country at that time.
Mascot goat
Retired Roseburg veteri-
narian Dr. Don Bailey has a
vivid memory of the goats.
“I’ve been accused of
causing the whole thing down
there,” he said with a laugh.
He said a school in the
Eugene area had a mascot
goat they wanted to get rid of
and wanted to leave it at Wild-
life Safari, but Bailey told the
school that would not be good
to have a domestic goat with
the exotic animals there.
“I said as you go by Mount
Nebo, just stop and turn it
loose, and they did,” he said.
The offspring turned into
a herd of gentle goats that
ended up eating grass along
the freeway, and occasionally
lowers and shrubs in gardens,
instead of predicting weather
on the mountain.
Bailey also remembers
climbing the face of the moun-
tain to catch the goat that had
been shot by an arrow. He
found it and took the arrow
out, then gave it a shot of pen-
icillin and he said it was ine.
He also remembered two
Roseburg boys that decided
to have some fun with the
weatherman and put a ply-
wood mannequin of a goat on
the mountain.
“The weatherman kept
saying, the weather hasn’t
changed a bit according to the
goats,” Bailey said. “He even-
tually igured out the manne-
quin wasn’t moving at all.”
The goats are now just part
of the colorful history of the
Umpqua Valley, but many
local residents still remember
them well, and all the atten-
tion they brought to the area
back in the 1960s and ’70s.
Love pleads not guilty at arraignment
Charged with
luring a
minor, oficial
misconduct
Matt Love appears
in Clatsop County
Circuit Court with
his lawyer Tuesday
for an arraignment
on charges of luring
a minor and official
misconduct.
By KYLE SPURR
The Daily Astorian
Matt Love, an Oregon
author and high school teacher,
pleaded not guilty Tuesday to
luring a minor and oficial mis-
conduct. Love, 52, is accused
of sending explicit messages
to induce a former student to
engage in sex.
He was arrested in July after
being indicted by a grand jury.
According to the indictment,
the alleged crimes occurred
between November and May.
Luring a minor is a Class C fel-
ony. Oficial misconduct is a
Class A misdemeanor.
Police said the girl involved
in the case was not a former stu-
dent at Astoria High School and
does not live in the area. The
Danny Miller/
The Daily Astorian
victim was under 18 at the time.
Love was placed on admin-
istrative leave by the Asto-
ria School District in May. He
resigned earlier this month.
About half a dozen of
Love’s students came to Clat-
sop County Circuit Court Tues-
day to support him.
Jack Green, an attorney rep-
resenting Love, said in court he
is concerned about incorrect
information being shared by
the District Attorney’s Ofice.
Green speciically cited an Ore-
gonian article that indicated
photographs were sent to the
former student.
“It turns out that is not the
case,” Green said. “That is actu-
ally an incorrect statement.”
Evidence in the case
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Love, who appeared in court
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$2,500 of a $25,000 bail and
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As a condition of his
release, Love is to have no
contact with minors, including
the girl and her family.
Love is due back in court
next month for an early resolu-
tion conference.
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Publishes: Sept. 16, 2016
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