Man killed by goat in Olympic National Park was experienced hiker (WA)

Peninsula Daily News ^ | Diane Urbani de la Paz and Tom Callis

[jazusamo]

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK -- Bob Boardman of Port Angeles, a devoted hiker, diabetes nurse and musician, was killed by a mountain goat on Klahhane Ridge on Saturday afternoon.

 

Boardman, 63, his wife, Susan Chadd, and their friend, Pat Willits, had gone for a day hike on the Switchback Trail to Klahhane Ridge, which is near Hurricane Ridge about 17 miles south of Port Angeles.

 

The three had stopped for lunch at an overlook when a goat appeared and moved toward them, said Jessica Baccus, who arrived on the scene at about 1:20 p.m.

 

Baccus, also out for a day hike with her husband and their children, saw Willits, her longtime friend, coming up the trail.

 

Willits told Baccus that when the goat had begun behaving aggressively, Boardman had urged her and Chadd to leave the scene.

 

Then Boardman, an experienced hiker, tried to carefully shoo the ram away.

 

Willits told Baccus that although Boardman tried also to leave, the goat attacked him, goring him in the thigh.

 

"Nobody saw what actually happened. They heard Bob yell," Baccus said.

 

The goat stayed, standing over Boardman, who lay on the ground bleeding.

 

Bill Baccus, a park ranger not on duty but familiar with mountain goat behavior, moved forward with a safety blanket and shook it at the goat, he said.

 

He also pelted it with rocks, and after what seemed like a long time, "it moved away, but it stayed close by," Jessica Baccus said.

 

At 1:23 p.m., park rangers called the Coast Guard, while Jessica Baccus began cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Boardman.

 

At the same time, her husband sought to keep the goat from coming closer again, and kept other hikers away.

 

After receiving the call, a four-person Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles that had been headed for Neah Bay turned around, returned to Port Angeles to pick up a litter in which to lift Boardman, and made it to Klahhane Ridge at 1:51 p.m., Lt. Commander Scott Sanborn said.

 

An emergency medical technician was lowered to administer electric shock in an attempt to revive Boardman.

 

He had no pulse, Sanborn said, and was lifted into the helicopter. The crew restarted CPR while in the air.

 

Boardman arrived at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles at 2:47 p.m., where further efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, OMC nursing supervisor Pattijo Hoskins said.

 

After the helicopter departed the ridge, park rangers were able to shoot and kill the ram at about 3:15 p.m., park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said.

 

Some 300 mountain goats live in Olympic National Park. Warnings about their aggressiveness have been issued, but Maynes said she knows of no other incident like the one that occurred Saturday.

 

With the helicopter gone, Bill Baccus took his children back home while Jessica and Willits walked Boardman's wife, Susan, down the Switchback Trail, and then drove her to the hospital.

 

The couple married last December after many years together. They have taken countless hikes, from Olympic National Park to the Dolomites of Italy.

 

Boardman, in addition to serving as a diabetes educator at OMC, worked for many years as a nurse with the North Olympic Peninsula's Native American communities, including the Makah and Lower Elwha Klallam tribes.

 

He was a guitarist and mandolin player with the Black Diamond Fiddle Club, and helped organize the monthly community dances at the Black Diamond Hall south of Port Angeles.

 

He was also a writer who worked for a time at The Leader in Port Townsend.

 

A skilled woodworker, he transformed the home where he and Susan lived near Little River.

More information on background of animal.

[jazusamo]

Very sad. Condolences to his family and friends.

[jazusamo]

Ping!

[null and void]

Now the muslims have their girlfriends attacking Americans?

[gandalftb]

How very sad. I have been a woodsman and backwoods hiker all over the Olympics, Rockies, Alaska and have never even heard of a goat attack.

[troy McClure]

Hiking without a pistol?

I carry every time we go out to walk our dogs.

We have Cougars and Bears seen near us, I won’t take the chance of an encounter.

[jazusamo]

I’ve never heard or read of an attack by a goat either but they’re wild animals and it seems this one had a history with humans.

[ColdOne]

Something is fishy here.

[Krankor]

It’s very sad. The man sounds like he had a really full life. It doesn’t seem fair to kill the goat, though.

[jazusamo]

After the attack the goat either had to be killed or trapped and put in a zoo which wouldn’t be practical because of the age of the goat. It’s sad but after an animal has attacked a person that’s what has to be done.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Sorry folks, you shouldn’t hike wilderness unarmed.

[piytar]

Ditto, although the threats in these parts are cougars and large aggressive packs of coyotes (and then more to the smaller of our dogs, not us or our 100 lb German Shepherds).

[Krankor]

What if the goat had just butted the guy without really hurting him. Would they have killed him then?

[jazusamo]

It depends on the circumstances and is a decision for the Park Service or Fish & Game officials.

[george76]

A first ?

[jazusamo]

So true and this man was an experienced hiker and should have known better.

[certrtwngnut]

Sorry to say but this guy does not sound like the type that would be armed. My condolonces to his family.

[Montanabound]

Agree that something is fishy. I wouldn’t leave my husband alone to face an aggressive animal. And the article is unclear - did he bleed to death?

[gettinolder]

“What if the goat had just butted the guy without really hurting him. Would they have killed him then?”

No, they would have tracked his journey through the park with a radio collar and made sure he was kept well fed.

[gandalftb]

Agreed, legal or not, all my life have been armed with my .45. Not just for critters, but for other people in the woods.

[onceone]

If it was a femoral artery hit, he would have very easily bled to death without immediate aid, and still may have with it.

Sad for all parties.