Posted on 01/11/2020 5:35:54 PM PST by nickcarraway
Dozens of salt-loving mountain goats are coming down from the slopes of western Wyoming to lick up the salt-and-sand mixture that snowplows spread over a highway, leading to collisions with vehicles traversing the icy canyon roadway.
At least three goats were hit and killed by motorists over a five-day span in October and November near the tip of the Snake River Canyon south of Jackson and near the Idaho state line, Wyoming Game and Fish wildlife biologist Gary Fralick told the Jackson Hole News & Guide.
The actual number of goats killed each year along U.S. Highways 26 and 89 could be a lot higher, he said.
“When you’re losing anywhere from three to 15 goats a year potentially, that’s fairly substantial,” Fralick said. “I think 15 goats could be getting struck (annually) and not known about.”
The mountain goats, which are not native to the area, appeared to learn in 2012 about the mineral-rich salt that’s spread over the roadway in winter to make driving safer, officials said.
(Excerpt) Read more at outdoornews.com ...
Salted goat for dinner?
Poor things. Maybe some additional signs should be put up, cautioning people to watch out for wildlife on the road.
Saw a video the other day abt Ibex climbing up a dam to get to salts and calcium to lick.
LOL
A salt loving mountain goat once bit my sister.
Salt loving mountain goat bites can be nasti.
I thought a lot of State DoTs had moved from salt to other mixtures of some kind of bio-degradable de-icer and a lot of sand, since salt is terrible for concrete...? (And also really bad for all the expensive median plant life too!)
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