One of some 300 mountain goats in Olympic National Park squares off with a photographer on the Switchback Trail
Posted on 10/22/2010 5:17:24 AM PDT by marktwain
By all accounts, 63-year-old Robert Boardman of Port Angeles was a stand-up guy; a fellow who enjoyed hiking in the Olympics and who probably never imagined that he would be killed by – of all things – a mountain goat.
But his death earlier this month on Klahhane Ridge several days ago should remind everyone that the campaign to allow the carrying of defensive firearms in national parks – a campaign championed by the National Rifle Association, Bellevue-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Virginia Citizens Defense League and other gun rights organizations – had to do with much more than just plugging bad guys committing wilderness crimes.
This is a cold, hard fact about the West that a lot of people who have moved here from elsewhere, or who grew up in the urban Puget Sound environment simply fail to grasp: There are things that can kill you out there other than falls and your own stupidity, which this column mentioned the other day here. Wild animals are called “wild” for a reason, and it’s not just bears and mountain lions that can harm you. In self-defense, whistles and even bear spray may not do the trick, and one’s only option may be lethal force.
The mountain goat that killed a 63-year-old
Port Angeles man Saturday was no stranger to Olympic National Park rangers. Barb Maynes, park spokeswoman, said the ram was known for its aggressive behavior, including reports of it following people along the trails around Klahhane Ridge.—Peninsula Daily News
In Boardman’s case, it appears that the culprit was a particularly aggressive goat about which others have complained. Some may ask why park authorities didn’t act sooner.
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
Should be “effective weapons that operate at a distance”
And of course the libs will try to use this too
One of some 300 mountain goats in Olympic National Park squares off with a photographer on the Switchback Trail
The urban “Bambi” mentality belongs only in LaLa Land. They seem to believe that Central Park is wilderness. I don’t even like to go back to the end of my property unarmed and it’s only about 700 feet from the road.
I worked with a guy who had lived his whole life in New York City. One day he heard a sound and couldn’t figure out what it was. He finally asked someone else, it was a frog. 45 years old and he had never heard a frog before.
Amen to that!
A very interesting article.
When I read the part about the billy (a male goat) following hikers, I thought immediately “Why? What is the attractant?”
A wild animal, especially a grazing animal, will not normally follow people. Goats are not predators, they are prey, and will avoid potential danger. This billy must not see people as a danger. How did that come about?
I suspect hikers have been feeding that goat, or at least leaving food for him. So naturally he approaches or follows people, expecting a handout. Usually that wouldn’t be such a big deal UNLESS the goat is a dominant male and aggressive.
An aggressive billy can be incredibly dangerous during rutting season, when testosterone is at its greatest and males are irritable and combative.
The hiker’s family has my sincere condolences. This was a tragedy but entirely avoidable. Too bad guns aren’t allowed.
When I hike Washington’s Cascades, I always carry. But bears, cougars, a charging bull elk, or even mountain goats and sheep are all near the bottom of my list of what I most fear running into. Illegal aliens, are known to use remote campsites to hide from authorities, as well as pot growers, mushroom pickers, drug runners, mobile meth labs, the insane, and just about anyone trying to keep a low profile, or hiding from or running from the law. I have ran into some pretty scary people in these remote locations. The local news reported not long ago about the problem.
There is a fence line about 200 feet from the back door, 50 feet beyond that you can’t see the house. It’s almost a mile to the next road.
A big billy can bust your chops wirhout breaking a sweat, and they know it. You don’t have horns.
As have I. But it is funny how polite they become when they see the .44 riding in its cozy shoulder rig. These days I wouldn't think about hiking without packing, even in the East.
I picked up the habit of always packing when out in the boonies when I lived in Arizona, and later New Mexico.
Some folks have this idea that once they get out in the desert away from the city, the rules don’t apply any more.
A numbnut I know was involved in one of these groups that got lost and could find their way back to the cars. It was winter and they ended up with a couple frostbite cases. Had they been further out where there is no cell phone coverage it might have been fatal. Another numbnut was trying to fly and jumped off a small cliff. He broke some bones, but no one in the group was straight enough to help him, or even to care. They just joked and laughed at him while he screamed in pain. It took almost a day for someone to go for help. Another waster laid naked on a rock in the middle of a river all day and was sunburned from head to toe.
This nonsense is common along the Appalacian Trail in Maryland and Northern Virginia. The Potomac highlands above Great Falls and some parts of the Shenandoah valley can be positively lousy with stoners in the warm months.
Unless Mountain Dew is involved, in which case it becomes a toss-up.
Ditto. Spend a lot of time in the Cascades. Always best to be armed.
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