Mountain goat kid in western Montana, USA
© Donald M. Jones/Minden Picture
Wrapping up warm for winter
High up in mountainous regions of North America, mountain goats’ climbing skills allow them to clamber up extraordinarily steep, rocky slopes, beyond the reach of most predators. From southern Alaska to the northern Rockies, these sure-footed creatures live at high altitudes and are often found above 13,000ft.
In winter they migrate downhill a bit to seek shelter in subalpine forests with south-facing rocky ledges, where the sunshine and wind keep the ice at bay. Here they can forage for their food of choice - lichen, mosses, grass and other wintry greens. Their woolly, two-layered coats keep them toasty as temperatures dip, which is probably why even in the chill of western Montana, USA, this young mountain goat, or kid, appears to be having a ball.
Related Images
Cefalù on the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily, Italy
Aerial view of surfers in Cornwall for International Surfing Day
Bubbles in the ice of Abraham Lake in Alberta, Canada
A fin whale in the waters off the Azores
Walruses near Kvitøya in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway
Manatees in the Ichetucknee River in Florida, USA
A Brandt's cormorant in a school of Pacific mackerel beneath an oil rig off the coast of California, USA
Green sea turtle with sardines near Playa Grandi beach, Curaçao
Bing Today Images
