HikeArizona.COM

I can't believe this is actually a story...you know it means though that someone has actually been doing it ...

Wildlife officials are asking hikers to refrain from bringing domestic sheep or goats into bighorn sheep habitat in the Catalina Mountains because the domestic animals can transmit diseases such as pneumonia to bighorns
http://tucson.com/news/local/domestic-s ... bc808.html

giddy up http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=183617

@joe bartels Hah! You have too good of a memory, I'd totally forgotten about the sheep ride

@azdesertfather
you may have forgotten that, but who could ever forget this http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=183630

@azdesertfather
You haven't forgotten about riding the sheep, and Daisy hasn't forgotten about being ridden.

Oh the shear horror of it.

<puts on ecologist hat> It seems funny, but this is a serious issue. Bighorn sheep are extremely susceptible to pneumonia--it's highly contagious and has a very high mortality rate for bighorns. It's like the equivalent of what smallpox was for Native Americans in the 1500's.

Up in Montana and Wyoming, game officials regularly have to kill off entire herds of bighorns exposed to pneumonia because once the disease is established, it will eventually kill the entire herd. It's easier for them to just kill all the bighorns and then restock with disease-free individuals. Thanks to a recent court ruling, the Forest Service is now free to boot sheep off of public lands where there are bighorns: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/457b1906 ... rn-grazing

I've never seen a pet sheep on a trail, but I have seen goats, at least once, maybe twice. Given the harm that a single goat or sheep could do, this strikes me as a prudent measure by AZGFD.

The Eagle wrote:@azdesertfather
You haven't forgotten about riding the sheep, and Daisy hasn't forgotten about being ridden.

I believe one of those sheep was, well in animal husbandry speaking terms, being pushed.

azdesertfather wrote:you know it means though that someone has actually been doing it

There are actually a fair number of people who have pet goats. They make good pack animals. Plus they're cute.
http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=296040
http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=315441
http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=253029
http://hikearizona.com/dexcoder.php?PID=1666018

@chumley
No goat or sheep sighting on the trail for me, but a few llamas..

http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=398761
http://hikearizona.com/photo.php?ZIP=384211

How come I never see anything cool like this?!? The weirdest I ever run across on trails is men wearing kilts--hardly photo worthy. I'd love to see a goat or a llama or anything besides my usual rattlers.

@friendofThundergod
quite a few in the database: http://hikearizona.com/dexcoder.php?PID=1666083

lindaagm wrote: How come I never see anything cool like this?!?

because there's nothing interesting on SoMo!
Except Goat Hill

@lindaagm
At least you have seen bighorn in the Supes

So it's ok to have Pack Goats in the Superstitions, but not in the Catalinas? How about the Goldfields? Or are they going to start banning Pack Goats everywhere where there are Bighorn Sheep? Those Catalina Sheep are getting more and more Precious...Give it another Year and they'll be out there Hand Feeding them and there won't be a Lion to be found within 200 Miles.... You can't tell how I really feel about the Catalina Sheep can you?

@chumley And yet I've never seen a Goat on Goat Hill. Yeah, SoMo is pretty bland, but it's convenient for me on weekdays & nights, and is still more interesting than my treadmill. People watching will always be the most interesting thing on SoMo.

@FOTG Good point, the bighorn was very cool to see. But was still something you'd expect to see out there. I'd like to see something totally unexpected.

goat hill

lindaagm wrote:How come I never see anything cool like this?!? The weirdest I ever run across on trails is men wearing kilts--hardly photo worthy. I'd love to see a goat or a llama or anything besides my usual rattlers.

It's a lot easier to find llama packers in Colorado.

@Outdoor Lover
How about in the Sierra Ancha Mountains? Two years ago I ran into a couple camping in a tee-pee down at Hells Hole with a pack of 8 goats and a 100 lb Great Pyrenees. They told me they had been out in the Supes and lost a goat to a mountain lion, so they got the large dog to keep the lions away.

@The Eagle. Daisy was pretty traumatized. I heard she hasn't moved from the spot where the dastardly deed was done.

You never know what people will do. My father-law use to visit in his RV. A couple of years ago went met them at the RV park they were staying and there neigbor next door travel with their pet chicken. It looked funny with a small collar tied to their motorhome. The lady said it was her baby