Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 1975. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Royal Roads University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 71-75). Project presentation at BC Mountain Goat Workshop (March 1, 2005) also available electronically via Internet.

The role of natural earth licks in the ecology of the mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus (Blainville)) was studied during the summers of 1965 and 1966 in the Rocky Mountain Trench of southern B.C. The patterns of movements of the animals were determined as they used the licks and the vegetation, lick soils and blood serum were analyzed with respect to sodium content. The predicated use of licks as suggested by other workers involves the idea that sodium may be the attracting element. The present study examined seasonal and differential patterns of movement, along with periodicity of use, in order to determine the resultant interplay of animal movement and sodium and water content of the vegetation. The goat encounters such additional risks as predation, parasitism, hunting and joint use while using the lick seasonally. Since the goats use the lick differentially in time, each sex is affected to a different degree by the above factors. Differential use also produces characteristic patterns of grouping and molting. Periodicity of use occurred mainly in the afternoon, although distance travelled and complexity of the lick may affect time of entry, length of stay and group size. The frequency of use differed at each lick, with the average time of use by an individual being one to three weeks. Environmental factors such as temperature and weather appear to regulate the movement to and from the lick. Analysis of the vegetation revealed that sodium was extremely low and that potassium was present in sufficient quantities to meet the requirements of the animal. No significant trends were found to exist from spring to fall or due to changes in elevation, as far as sodium and total ash were concerned. Observations indicated that animals select certain licks over others and select sites within a lick. These high licking sites were shown to have a higher sodium content. Newly established licks had a higher sodium content than did old licks, however, highly preferred sites were not always higher in calcium, phosphorus or cobalt. A normal range of serum sodium values was established for the goat but due to the regulatory function of the kidney, changes in serum sodium due to lick use could not be detected. Serum sodium decreased with age. A female with a kid had a low serum value. It appears that the level of deficiency causing the craving is not sufficient to show up in serum analysis. Animals died during trapping operations and a selenium deficiency was suspected. Gross symptoms approximated those attributed to white muscle disease and the vegetation contained selenium in amounts which are known to cause this myopathy. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

Chester Stock in 1936 described Harrington's extinct mountain goat, Oreamnos harringtoni, based upon six skeletal elements recovered from Smith Creek Cave, Nevada. Until recently it was rarely encountered in fossil deposits of western North America and was inadequately understood. One hundred ten skeletal elements recovered from eight dry cave and wood rat midden deposits in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, enable a re-examination and redescription of the extinct species. Characters of the skull indicate that O. harringtoni was distinct from, yet similar to O. americanus, the living form. The extinct species was generally smaller overall than O. americanus, with proportionally more robust jaws. Occasionally, the fossil forms are as large as the extant species. Preserved keratinous horn sheaths and large cuboid dung pellets assigned to O. harringtoni provide carbon isotope ages directly on the extinct species. The youngest age determined on horn sheaths is 12,580±520 B.P., while the youngest age from large cuboid dung pellets is 10,870±200 B.P., both from Stanton's Cave. Hair assigned to the extinct species indicates that it had a white coat. Plant fragments in the dung indicate it ate predominantly grasses, but it also browsed heavily on Ceonothus-Cercocarpus, Prunus, Pseudotsuga, and Sphaeralcea. Oreamnos harringtoni appears to have been restricted to the Great Basin-Intermountain Region, and evolved from an ancestral population of O. americanus since the Sangomonian, in less than 100,000 years. The species became extinct by approximately 11,000 B.P.