Oreamnology (MOUNTAIN GOATS ARE NOT GOATS) with Julie Cunningham
Image description: Mountain goat researcher Julie Cunningham wears a blue short sleeved shirt, hiking pants and a baseball cap and is crouched on a rocky mountaintop using a spotting scope to locate and count mountain goats. Hint: there are a few behind her.
Mountain goats are not goats. And there’s only one living species, Oreamnos americanus. WHAT?? Montana-based wildlife biologist and Oreamnologist Julie Cunningham counts mountain goats from helicopters, traps and tests them for science, and spends even her off-days searching for goats on mountaintops. We cover their population, sensual mating habits, the feel of their wool, pungent goatwhiff, tips for hikers and how these animals defy gravity scaling near-vertical cliffs. Oh also, why your favorite trail might be delicious.
Listen via Stitcher, Apple, Podbay, Podcast Addict, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
A donation was made to the Rocky Mountain Goat Alliance
Links to things we discussed:
One hundred and one mountain goats! Herd population reaches new heights in Henry’s Mountains
Back From The Brink: Montana's Wildlife Legacy Part 2
1937 Chester Stock paper titled: "A new mountain goat from the Quaternary of Smith Creek Cave, Nevada"
Pics of Nevada’s Smith Creek Cave
Mountain Goat Management Plan/EIS
The Coast Salish Knitters and the Cowichan Sweater: An Event of National Historic Significance
Hiker was fatally injured by mountain goat in Olympic National Park
Headline: Klahhane Billy, the goat who gored a hiker then stood over his body as he fatally bled
“Goat Sheep Goat” polka by Banff National Park
Managing and Harvesting Mountain Goats for Traditional Purposes by Indigenous User Groups
Terri Rofkar in a mountain goat robe
Video on mountain goat robe weaver Teri Rofkar, coupled with metal music
Culturally prized mountain goats may be vanishing from Indigenous land in Canada
Doug Chadwick's book, The Beast the Color of Winter
Geist, V. (1964). On the Rutting Behavior of the Mountain Goat. Journal of Mammalogy
A descriptive analysis of the climbing mechanics of a mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus)
The Goats Who Stare at Men, an account of Khlahane Billy
Olympic National Park mountain goat goring case sparks court discussion
Pronunciation Guide For Indigenous Communities In Bc
Final helicopter removals of mountain goats underway in the Olympics
“Mountain goat climbing a hill in Canada” YouTube video
Montana helicopter tour prices
Goat away, they were told. 100 mountain goats survive flight to Cascades
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Sound editing by Jarrett Sleeper of MindJam Media
Transcripts by Emily White of The Wordary
Website by Kelly R. Dwyer
Theme song by Nick Thorburn