MOUNTAIN GOAT

Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) also called Rocky Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus), North American ruminant, family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla). Mountain goats occur from the Yukon to the northern U.S. Rockies. Although goatlike, they are more closely related to antelopes than to true goats. Stocky, and with a slight hump at the withers, mountain goats stand about 1 m (39 inches) at the shoulder. Members of both sexes bear short, hollow, slightly backward-curving horns. The hair is coarse, white, and shaggy over a thick, wooly underfur, and a beard frames the slender muzzle. The blackish hooves and horns stand out in contrast. Surefooted relatives of the chamois, mountain goats live among rugged, craggy mountain peaks, usually above the timberline. They excel even the bighorn in climbing rocky precipices and slopes. Mountain goats live in small bands. They mate in November, and the males fight for possession of the females. A single kid, rarely two, is born in late spring in a nursery group. A few minutes later it begins to walk about and nurse. Mountain goats eat a variety of plantsmoss, lichen, scrub foliageand seemingly require little. Their slow gait is a stiff-legged walk. They are agile climbers and are capable of leaping more than 3.5 m (11.5 feet).