Bob Boardman killed by mt goat in the Olympics. RIP Bob.

[uppityperson]

Bob was a very nice guy. He was a musician, a nurse and a woodworker, also had written for The Leader in Port Townsend and liked to hike and do outdoors stuff. I worked with him and socialized several times over the last 25 yrs. I have run across aggressive mt goats in the Olympics in the past but have never heard of anyone being outright attacked. It is very odd yet I smile sadly to myself, what a way to go. My condolences and RIP Bob, you will be missed.

We were warned yrs back about the mt goats in the Olympics, they love salt and so the advice is to urinate on rocks so they don't tear up the ground and vegetation.

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20101017/NEWS/310179991/man-killed-by-goat-in-olympic-national-park-was-experienced-hiker

[ampad]

1. So sad

I just heard about this on the news. Poor guy, what a odd way to go.

[create.peace]

2. So sad

My dh left the pi story on the screen this morning and I was hoping it was a different Bob Boardman. He was a great guy, and one of the best things about PT when I first moved there. I know so many there who are probably in deep shock this morning. Last time I saw him was in the kitchen of another remarkable friend.

I spent time in Glacier Park and one of my most treasured memories was being on Gunsight Pass and young Mountain Goats congregated around me, curious and playful. I was just a few feet from very pointed pairs of horns! I sat still for about 45 minutes watching them play, until my ex was heard walking back down from Mt. Reynolds, I think, and they scattered.

[uppityperson]

3. Are you gone now? Do we know each other?

I've met several people from DU but can't remember your name. pm me if you want to share and I will also.

As more comes out, it gets sadder for him. Sounds now like the goat wouldn't leave him for an hour, an hour before anyone could touch him.

Bob was great. Co-worker of my kid lives in his little cabin here in PT, kid came home and told me. The cabinetry cabin with the loft and great kitchen. I keep coming up with more ways our lives intersected over the last 30 yrs, it is odd.

[uppityperson]

10. Article in local paper for you.

http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=36&SubSectionID=55&ArticleID=27947

[rhett o rick]

4. I have hiked in the Olympics and love it. Seldom have encountered Mt Goats.

But when I did I was surprised at how little they feared humans. I am sorry to learn of Mr. Boardman's death. My best to his family and friends.

[Krakowiak]

5. Peace to Bob...

I was just up at Hurricane Ridge about three weeks ago and can remember actually laughing at the signs warning of an aggressive mountain goat. I'm very sorry to read of this occurrence.

This really is a billion to one happening. The Seattle Times reported this as the first human fatality caused by ANY sort of animal in Olympic's history.

To echo what create peace said, I spent a lot of time this summer at Glacier National Park in very close proximity to the goats. At Logan and Gunsight passes, several times I ended up at a point on the trail that required man and goat to share a space of just a few feet. I have video posted on my flickr page of a family of goats brushing against us on the trail. At no point did I feel threatened.

I spent a year living in a cabin just outside of PT, and while I did not meet Bob personally, it sounds as if he will be very much missed in the community.

[uppityperson]

6. Thanks, as more comes out it looks like a big part of his death was not just goring(updated link)

but the goat standing guard and not letting others come near him until he bled to death. It hasn't made sense how he could die, even being gored, as he knew enough to put pressure on it, chase the goat off, etc, was very competent guy.

I've had run ins with goats in the Olympics, have heard from people locally about having problems with a goat in this area recently (dodging behind trees, having to almost shove it to get it to quit following so closely, etc).

It sounds like this 300 lb goat was well known for causing problems, I bet the Ntl Park Service is scrambling, hoping they figure out what to do about aggressive animals (including people) to make it safe for all.

Hi to another person passing through PT from one who came, left, came back and stayed.

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20101019/NEWS/310199988/hiker-died-while-warning-others-of-aggressive-mountain-goat

[Krakowiak]

8. After thinking this over a bit....

I wonder if this incident is the result of one "goat gone mad", or an indicator of a greater problem or change in the environment of the region. From the news reports, it seems that there was this one specific goat that was most monitored, but also that there were six or seven others that were being watched for aggressive behavior.

I know that mountain goats can become territorial when food becomes scarce, and it seems to me that an increase in the number of goats following people is an indication of something being amiss in their surroundings. My hunch tells me that there is less salt to be had from previous years, and the goats are following the people waiting for them to urinate, becoming increasingly more desperate as the conditions worsen.


The goats are not native to Olympic, unlike Glacier, and according to the Seattle Times, the salt availability in the park is lacking compared to the goats natural habitat.

I would bet that a general increase in aggressive and territorial nature will be observed in the goat population of Olympic as a whole. This would more commonly involve confrontations between two goats over a shrinking bounty of food and salt. Minor changes in the environment/weather could bring this about, and explain the difference in aggressiveness between the goats of Olympic and the ones at a natural environment such as Glacier where there is more allowance for hardship.

We are seeing the mountain regions change dramatically and rapidly. The Glaciers that give GNP its name will all be gone by 2030... Nisqually Glacier at Mount Rainier has shrunk quite a bit... obviously change is taking place in the Olympic Mountains as well. Combine that with a population recovery by the goats since there was an attempt to remove them from the environment, and this makes a bit more sense.

Mr. Boardman was certainly a hero.

I do hope that his death doesn't lead to an overreaction that opens the door for all sorts of gun enthusiasts to start mowing down all forms of life in their path while "hiking".

That said, as the goats are non-native in the case of Olympic, some tough questions are going to be asked.

Enjoyed my time in PT, and still return on occasion.

[uppityperson]

9. I think you have a typo there, "don't hope" re guns.

Having them be imported does mean they may not have the food/salts they need. The salt/urine thing has been a problem for the last 30 yrs that I know of, wondering if it is worse or what.

I too wonder if it was a habitat, food, etc thing or if it was poor animal management. While it is sad when a "problem" animal must be killed, if it gets to this point it (person dies), it still must be killed. It will be interesting to see what happens here.

If you get back and want to meet for coffee/beer, let me know. The newest incarnation of The Town Tav was evicted, though PT brewery is still going well. Many places for coffee as usual here in this librual bastion of decadence.

[upi402]

7. A guy spoke to me about this today -out of the blue

Not sure this was a good way to go. Nature can be very Hobbesian.

[blindersoff]

11. I worked with him up until last week...

at Olympic Med Center. He was all set to become the diabetes coordinator for our program. I just loved the guy; he was the kindest, gentlest, most talented person (and the only liberal besides me in our workplace). I cannot say how much I (and all of those who knew him) will miss him.

[uppityperson]

12. Oly National Park to change goat guidelines; killer mountain goat wasn't diseased, necropsy finds

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20101029/NEWS/310299974/olympic-national-park-to-change-goat-guidelines-killer-mountain-goat

Olympic National Park expects to have revised guidelines for dealing with aggressive mountain goats in place by the time snow begins to melt in the mountains next year. The move is in response to the death of Port Angeles resident Bob Boardman. The 63-year-old diabetes educator and registered nurse bled to death Oct. 16 on Klahhane Ridge after being gored by a mountain goat known for its aggressive behavior.

Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes said the small section for mountain goats in the park's Nuisance and Hazardous Animal Plan will be expanded. Once completed, she said, the section will resemble in "scope and detail" the plan's sections for bears and cougars. "I think all of us are seeing mountain goats in a different light," Maynes said. "We have certainly learned what mountain goats are capable of, tragically."

Boardman is the only person to have been killed by an animal in the park's 72-year history. No other mountain goat attacks in the park have been reported, though an Allyn man, Mike Stoican, was gored by a goat in Olympic National Forest just outside the southeast corner of the park in 1999.

A necropsy on the mountain goat, which weighed more than 350 pounds, showed that it was in rut for the mating season, Maynes said. The spokeswoman said it has not been determined if that was a cause for the attack. "It certainly could have been a contributing factor," she said, "but there have been many other goats in rut, and this has not happened."

The necropsy did not find any evidence that the mountain goat had any diseases, such as rabies.

[uppityperson]

13. Bob's memorial service information. Go in peace my friend.

http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20101029/NEWS/310299974/olympic-national-park-to-change-goat-guidelines-killer-mountain-goat

A celebration of the life of Bob Boardman, the guitarist, nurse, diabetes educator and hiker killed Oct. 16 by a mountain goat in Olympic National Park, is set for Saturday.

At the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal Center west of Port Angeles, doors will open at 1 p.m., and remembrances will begin at 2 p.m.

The memorial gathering will last about 90 minutes, and guests are invited to stay for a meal afterward.

An informal musical gathering is also planned for after the memorial.
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For more details about the Port Angeles memorial, and for photographs and tributes to Boardman, visit www.BobBoardman.com