Mountain Goats
Mountain goats in Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska. This is a nanny (female) and a new kid that's just a few months old. They tend to live at high elevations, up to 13,000 feet, and stay above the treeline all year! In some coastal areas of their range, they might migrate down to the lower altitudes, so seeing them here was beyond exciting. Both males (billies) and females have black horns which can grow to almost 12 inches long. They have a double-layered coat, and the outer layer consists of hollow hairs to help with insulation. These coats can protect them when the temperatures drop to -50F with winds up to 99 mph. Another bucket list animal for me to see in the wild! I knew there was a chance I'd see some as distant white dots high up on a cliff, but we were incredibly lucky to see some goats down low enough on some cliffs for a few photos. It was pretty foggy, wet, cold, and I was on a moving boat, but I got the best photo I could have out of that situation.