fishydreams

Yesterday we returned from the coast with some shopping in the back of the car and, as we normally do, went to and fro a couple of times between the car and the house carrying the bits and pieces we picked up. It was only as the last of these short errands were completed that I glanced over to a wall at the end of the house and noticed a mountain goat standing on it. It seems likely that it had been standing there all along.

It is not altogether unusual here to find the odd surprising animal putting in an appearance. We have had an Egyptian mongoose slip into the heavy growth in the lower part of our little plot of land in the past and just a couple of weeks ago a griffin vulture found itself in a spot of bother just down the road and the bird people showed up to rescue it. But in the campo where we live a mountain goat really is something special and, In twenty years of living here, we have not seen one before.

I have had many encounters with mountain goats in the past and they are commonly seen at Concepción reservoir where we often go to fish for black bass. Sometimes we see them down at the water´s edge drinking, particularly around dusk. Sometimes a rock dislodged by their movements in the mountainside above us, tumbles down into the water.

Mountain goats have various names here which include cabra montés and cabra de montaña or íbice ibérico. Scientifically it is pinned down with the binomial Capra pyrenaica and we would probably call it the Iberian Ibex. This is quite a common wild animal here but, as its various names suggest, it is normally found in mountainous terrain where they are well adapted, being famously agile and fearless climbers. Finding one in the campo and distant from its preferred habitat is, therefore, very unusual.

What to do with our new arrival? As pleased as we were to see it we were worried that it had strayed far from its home and even if it were to find its way back it would have to cross various roads and settled areas. We consulted with our Spanish neighbours and then we got in touch with the emergency services. They, in turn, contacted the relevant wildlife people.

Unfortunately our mountain goat did not stay put and allow himself to be rescued and when we went to check on him a half hour or so after putting in the emergency call we found that he had vanished. I wandered around looking over our property and beyond but there was no sign of him. We got back in touch with the emergency services who duly liaised with the rescue people, saving them an unnecessary trip.

I doubt we will see this ibex again. For us it was quite an intriguing event. I hope that he manages to make his way back to where he came from. It is a young male as far as I can tell.

These are intelligent and resourceful animals and so we can only wish him well.