Goats native to CO?
Contributors to this thread:Mountain Goat
From: DonVathome
04-Nov-22
A 15 years ago I posted something saying mnt goats were not native to CO and was informed I was wrong. I felt like an idiot. I knew I had read it but never found where. Recently I read another article saying Rocky mnt goats are not native to CO? So I am asking again what are the facts? Are the native to CO?
From: DonVathome
04-Nov-22
https://kdvr.com/news/local/mountain-goats-bighorn-sheep-resources-rocky-mountains/
From: DonVathome
04-Nov-22
At least this time I have the article, I suspect it is wrong but I am very curious. If they are not native to CO what is their "natural" dispersion?
From: DonVathome
04-Nov-22
https://www.nps.gov/romo/learn/nature/nonnativespecies.htm#:~:text=Mountain%20goats%20are%20not%20native,sheep%20for%20food%20and%20habitat.
From: DonVathome
04-Nov-22
Sorry I need to google more before posting:)
https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2019/12/06/introduced-mountain-goats-have-colonized-much-land-above-trees
It looks like they are definitely not native.
From: Ken
04-Nov-22
This is where the confusion might have come from:
"Only 55 to 60 mountain goats were introduced to Colorado by managers, but they now number in the thousands. The International Order of Mountain Goats urged the Colorado Wildlife Commission to declare the mountain goat as a native species in Colorado in 1993, and the commission did so."
Colorado was Woke before Woke was cool!
From: Grey Ghost
04-Nov-22
Not native. I believe they were introduced in the '40s. Moose in the '70s.
Matt
From: sticksender
04-Nov-22
They may not be native, and may get less respect from wildlife managers, who typically defer to Sheep. But as a hunter and lover of wildlife, I think they're a great species. There is no question they have thrived in the mountains of Colorado.
From: Rgiesey
04-Nov-22
Great species. The only thing they can say for certain is they haven’t found fossil record of them being there in the past. I don’t believe that is a reason to eradicate them. As in Teton national park.
From: Grey Ghost
04-Nov-22
I spoke with a game warden who told me that mountain goats are more hearty and are displacing the native Bighorn sheep in Colorado. Goats also spread a deadly respiratory disease that sheep are particularly susceptible to. I watched a ram cough up a lung for at least 30 minutes this season, and I saw other sheep that clearly weren't in good health. They looked like they had mange.
Matt
From: Kurt
04-Nov-22
Goats were introduced to CO in 1949. I think all the goats were either from the Blackhills or from Idaho. I did read they had cliff/cave paintings/drawings of mountain goats in CO. My question is were they really mountain goats or bighorn ewes? Goats have a lot of front shoulder hump so if the artist was good it should be obvious!
The first bow killed CO goat in the CO Bowhunting Records is from 1973 taken on Mt Shavano.
From: DonVathome
04-Nov-22
Thanks guys! I do think it is neat and I am glad they are there. Coo animals.
Ken that explains a lot thanks! NM introduced ibex in the Florida mnts - and I think 1-2 other places where they did not make it. They are incredible and watching/hunting them was amazing.
From: Mathewsphone
04-Nov-22
Cpw are trying to eradicate all the goats in Colorado
From: whipranger
04-Nov-22
First goat was killed by Wayne Spencer. At the time there was no archery season for goats as the DOW did not think bow hunters could get them. Wayne was a Outfitter/rancher/History teacher. I spent more time in his class BSing with him about hunts than actual history.
From: Paul@thefort
04-Nov-22
Not "thousands" of Mt Goats in Colorado. 2019 there was only 1585 Mt Goats in Colorado and that population is the same in 2021.
From: Adventurewriter
04-Nov-22
Super great quarry number three hunt of all time was my Mt Goat hunt...
From: Kodiak
05-Nov-22
It's strange to me that they're not native. Seems impossible.
From: Cazador
05-Nov-22
Non native. No other animal in CO (WTs a close second) get disrespected more from the CDOW than Mountain Goats.
From: Corax_latrans
05-Nov-22
It does make you wonder what natural barriers would have restricted their range.
Funny, I just had that conversation with my family and we couldn’t recall…..
From: Lucas
05-Nov-22
Harrington's Mountain Goat was native to Colorado. It became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene. The Mountain Goats that are in Colorado now were introduced.
From: WhattheFOC
06-Nov-22
There’s a few guys on Bowsite that started hunting in the Pleistocene.
From: Ermine
06-Nov-22
Supposedly non native. But hard to believe that there weren’t native ones at some point
From: squirrel
06-Nov-22
Many years ago the Dow quoted old miner writings about killing and eating white antelope that lived above treeline north of Breckinridge. This was when they wanted to increase goats numbers so the writing “proved” it was a reintroduction. Now the political winds have shifted and those are “drunken snowbound miner ramblings “. It would not be difficult to conceive of miners in Swandyke type towns exterminating small local herds of goats given their needs and mentality of those days. If you were staying at the wise mountain inn in January beef would be a bit scarce
From: bowyer45
06-Nov-22
I remember reading about the Colorado Grizzlies, by Jack Oconner in Outdoor life when I was very young.. About Old Mose, the famous Griz, that lived in great Divide in Moffat county. We need to bring them back also, to make our hikes a little more interesting. After all, like wolves they were native to Colorado. Ridiculous you say, well you better get out on Tuesday and vote because there will be ridiculous people voting for democrats that gave us the wolves.
