However, this video is of a goat. These goats are wildly confusing. They have four legs like many animals and yet they’re able to scale incredible heights on terrain that makes no sense at all. In this video, you get to witness a goat doing exactly what we just described: scaling a jagged-edged mountainside. Nothing about this cliff face tells you it’s actually scalable. But for the goat, gravity is of no concern. This is just what mountain goats do. It zooms right up a cliffside and makes it to a point about halfway up. It pauses for a moment. Then, it continues its climb even further up, as if it were just taking a regular stroll the way humans do in parks and hiking trails. Mountain goats accomplish incredible feats. They’re awe-inspiring. The secret is in their specialized hooves. To be able to scale jagged mountainsides like the one in this video, they use their two wide-spread toes. These aid with balance, much like snow shoes. Their toe pads are quite textured and spongy, helping them gain traction as they take each step. Between their toes, hair grows. This further helps with traction as they make their way up vertical cliffsides. Well, that covers how they’re able to climb up. But how in the world do they get down without slipping and falling to an untimely death? Well, the backs of their hooves have what are called dewclaws. These are like little anchors that help keep them stable when they descend a mountain. Additionally, since the two toes on each hoof spread out in a v-shape, any knobs or edges on the cliff get wedged in between, which further serves as a makeshift braking system. Their specialized hooves are perfect for mountain climbing. But so are their bodies. At first glance, it seems impossible that they carry those rather round bodies around effortlessly, like a ballerina balancing on her toes. However, mountain goats are much more slender than they appear. That slender aspect of their bodies is ideal for helping them keep their balance, even during those incredibly challenging climbs.
Up Next, Explore Some Other Animals and Their Incredible Feats:
Watch Octopuses Pull Off Impossibly Good Camouflage In Underwater VideoWatch A Bald Eagle Steal a Fisherman’s Shark in Crazy VideoWatch This Determined Hawk Become an In-Air Ninja, Catching Dinner Twice
