For Glacier’s iconic goats, snow proves solace from bugs
A mountain goat rests on a snow patch at Sperry Chalet in Glacier National Park in this file photo. (Hungry Horse News FILE)
A big snowfield in Glacier National Park might look like a great place to cool off in the heat of summer, and plenty of mountain goats are drawn to them.
But research by scientists Forest P. Hayes and Joel Berger found that goats aren’t heading for the snow to cool off — they’re heading for the snow for relief from bugs.
The two made more than 1,000 observations of mountain goats on and near snow patches in Glacier and about 1,000 kilometers south on Mount Blue Sky in Colorado.
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