Trail closed for aggressive goats to reopen Monday

Wildlife experts have spent the last three months chasing the mountain goats away from the popular Mount Ellinor Trail in the Olympic National Forest.

It appears yelling, noise-making, throwing rocks, and shooting paintballs at the goats have worked and the trail will reopen on Monday.

“They have actually moved away from the area that they had been frequenting, which was around the trailhead and the trail corridor itself,” said Olympic National Forest spokeswoman Donna Nemeth. “The district ranger made the decision that it’s safe to allow people back into the area.”

Hikers are asked not to feed the animals and to chase them away if they see them.

“If a goat approaches you, do everything that you can to chase it away. You can wave your clothing in the air, shout at it, throw rocks at it,” says Nemeth. “If the goat continues to approach you then you need to be more assertive in your actions to chase it away.”

The trail has been closed since July after several hikers had run-ins with aggressive mountain goats.