Mountain goats - skilful climbers

Mountain goats are surprisingly beautiful animals,living in a mountainous area. There are 8 known species of goats, all of them live in the mountains of Eurasia and North Africa. Depending on the species, the weight of the animal can be from 35 to 200 kg, the height at the withers is 65 - 115 cm, the length of the trunk is 1 - 1.7 m. Males differ from females by a larger physique, a long beard, and also long, bizarre swirling horns. In some species they are straight, others with curved inward and downward ends, sickle-shaped or in the form of a shallow spiral. The females of the horn are much shorter, only 20-40 cm.

All mountain goats are very strong anddexterous beasts. They live in the mountains at an altitude of 2500 - 5000 m above sea level. Because of their heavy weight and dense physique, they do not run very fast, therefore, to get away from the pursuit, they climb the rocks. They are quite easy and at ease feel even on a steep rock, at a dizzying height. Climbing the steep slopes, they are not afraid of landslides, which can provoke even one careless movement. Hearing that the stones begin to move underfoot, the goats only slow down the run a little and continue their journey.

Such their ability to walk practicallyvertical slopes, on the icy rock cornices provides an opportunity to escape even from the persecution of the leopard. Yes, and a professional climber is unlikely to be able to climb to the top as skillfully as mountain goats. The photos of these amazing animals on which they stand, it would seem, on a steep rock, amazes. How can they even be there?

Inhabit mountain mountain goats very high in the mountains, in summerthey prefer to graze in alpine meadows, and in winter some animals descend into forests, and some remain in the highlands. They prefer to avoid people, so they have to go to rock massifs or deaf forest tracts from the places where livestock graze.

Mountain Caucasian goat shows activityIn the morning and in the evening, in the winter, they go out to find food in the daytime. They feed on animals mainly grass, fruits and foliage from bushes and trees, in winter they eat shoots and dry grass. Prefer to keep in small herds, about 15 heads, can live alone. In winter and autumn, live on the southern slopes, where there is not much snow and you can find grass, in hot weather get closer to the snowfields and glaciers.

Mountain goats can boast of excellent vision,they see in a radius of one kilometer, a person can feel for hundreds of meters, so it's not so easy to meet this wild beast. If they are not disturbed, then goats prefer to lead a sedentary lifestyle: get on the lawn, lie down in the sun. In bad weather, animals seek refuge in caves, but necessarily with a good view to see the danger in time.

The gon starts in late autumn, then goterrible battles between males for a female. The kid is born in the end of spring, in a week the babies can freely follow the mother, fearlessly climbing the rocks. Little goats stay with their mothers for about 1 year. In ancient times, mountain goats were the main game for the highlanders. Today their numbers are not as great as we would like. Many of these proud beasts die under snow avalanches, which descend in the spring and winter. Especially male sufferers, because they climb always higher than females.

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