Mountain Goat Gores Hiker and Has Hippie Staring Contest

Ah life in the great suburban outdoors! 200 dollar Timberlands Hiking Boots, freeze dried snacks and a baggie of trail mix. Uh oh! Its a goat! It gored Old Man Boardman! Quick! Hippie Goat Staring Contest, GO!

From the AP here:

A mountain goat that fatally gored a hiker, then stood over the man and stared at people trying to help, had shown aggressive behavior in the past, Olympic National Park officials said Monday.

Robert Boardman, 63, of Port Angeles, died Saturday after he was attacked by the goat while hiking on the subalpine Switchback Trail in the park, which is about 85 miles west of Seattle.

Park rangers later found the goat, observed blood on it and shot the animal.

Rangers have been tracking the goat and others for the past four years because they have followed people or approached hikers without backing down.

Boardman was hiking with his wife, Susan Chadd, and their friend, Pat Willits, and had stopped for lunch at an overlook when the goat began acting aggressively toward them.

Boardman urged the others to go ahead while he tried to get rid of the goat, according to the paper. The two heard him yell and ran back to help.
Hikers who came upon the group radioed for help. But it took nearly an hour before rescuers could reach Boardman because the goat stood over him as he lay motionless on the ground.

Boardman, a locally-known musician and diabetes educator, was an avid hiker who also worked for years as a nurse for the Makah and Lower Elwha Klallam tribes.

Those goats aren’t native to the region. Why bother tracking them for four years instead of just eliminating them? Three guys with guns could have solved this problem years ago. But it takes a male nurse to get gored to get the hippies in the PacNorWest to actually unlock a bullet and put it to good use.

And OMG the goat is staring at us! What shall we do? Seriously, hikers, if there are any animals in the area which might intimidate you, take a firearm along.