For most people, getting their daily salt fix is as easy as opening a bag of potato chips. But these mountain goats scaled the sheer wall of a dam to get the salt their bodies needed.
Unfortunately for the ibexes, getting salt was not a simple craving. It is easy to forget that salt is essential for bone strength and development. The mountain goats needed these salts to survive.
Getting the calcium deposits in the rocks on the dam was a matter of life and death. “Without these salts and minerals, their bones [wouldn’t] grow. Their muscles and nervous systems [wouldn’t] function,” said the narrator of the video.
When a mother goat started climbing up the dam, she was not alone. Her baby followed closely behind. “There’s a strong bond between mother and kid. And the kid will follow her wherever she goes,” said the narrator.
If you are afraid of heights, we advise you not to watch the video. The baby and mother ibexes seemed to defy gravity as they climbed. If either goats missed a step, there were no safety lines to catch them.
Their feet found footholes in stones that looked perpendicular to the ground. A few times, the mom and her less-experienced baby goat slipped, but each time they caught themselves.
Eventually, the two goats found their prize. “Salt from the earth dissolved in water continues on its journey into their bodies where it’s used in the nerves and the muscles that control dexterous, pincer-like hooves,” said the narrator.
