Life on the Rocks
A Portrait of the American Mountain Goat
Publication Year: 2014
Color photographs and accounts of Smith's personal experiences living in Montana's Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area accompany descriptions of the American mountain goat's natural history. Smith explores their treacherous habitat, which spans the perilous cliffs and crags of the Rocky, Cascade, and Coast mountain ranges. The physical and behavioral adaptations of these alpine athletes enable them to survive a host of dangers, including six-month-long winters, scarce food sources, thunderous avalanches, social strife, and predators like wolves, bears, lions, wolverines, and eagles. Smith also details the challenges these animals face as their territory is threatened by expanding motorized access, industrial activities, and a warming climate.
Life on the Rocks showcases the elegance and charm of this little-known creature, thriving in some of North America's harshest wilderness. Smith's volume will appeal to wildlife enthusiasts, wildland travelers, and conservationists interested in the future of the American mountain goat.
Published by: University Press of Colorado
Cover
Title Page, Frontispiece, Copyright Page
Contents

Chapter Three: Behaving Appropriately
The mountain goat is one of the ruminants—the even-toed, hoofed mammals with complex stomachs where food is fermented by bacteria and protozoans to wring sparse nutrients from plants. Their digestive efficiency permits mountain goats to eat a variety...

Chapter Four: Rewards and Risks
life spent living on ledges and peaks comes with both rewards and risks. Few other hoofed mammals spend significant time where the mountain goat roams, finding life easier on more forgiving terrain. During my observations I found that only mule deer and more rarely elk shared the Bitterroot haunts...

Chapter Five: Among the Goats
During three decades of field studies of North America’s large mammals, the environmental and logistical challenges of none—not deer, elk, moose, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, or bears—compared with those I encountered learning about the mountain goat. The chasms and ramparts, the...

Chapter Six: Across the Continent
Mountain goats are found in ten of the United States and four Canadian provinces and territories. To learn how many animals roam the continent, in 2011 I sent a questionnaire to wildlife managers in each of those fourteen jurisdictions. Based upon their responses and a 2011 report...
E-ISBN-13: 9781607322924
E-ISBN-10: 1607322927
Print-ISBN-13: 9781607322917
Print-ISBN-10: 1607322919
Page Count: 192
Illustrations: 107 color photos
Publication Year: 2014
OCLC Number: 881430609
MUSE Marc Record: Download for Life on the Rocks