Mountain goat herds stand on steep slopes to lick salt

The goat herd seems to be challenging the death when standing on the dam wall sloping nearly 90 degrees, 50 meters high to satisfy the craving for salt.

Federica Grassi, retired bank employee, took a series of photos that captured the moment when Alps mountain goats licked salt and other minerals on Cingino dam in northern Italy, Sun reported yesterday. This goat usually lives in a steep rocky terrain at an elevation of 4,600 m. In the photo, they did not show fear in front of the steep wall, even crowding for a good location.

Special foot structure helps mountain goats not fall off the cliff.(Photo: Sun).

According to Grassi, there are about 15 to 25 goats standing on the dam at the same time while others rest at the foot of the dam. The dam is about 50m high and the local people say the dam wall has a slope of nearly 90 degrees, almost vertical. The goat herd can climb like that thanks to rubber-like foot pads and hooves that help keep them balanced . They constantly licked the stone face to eat salt.

Goats lick each other and lick salt on the dam.(Photo: Sun).

"It is interesting to see them below, only a few meters away from where I stand. They seem to be challenging gravity and using horns to compete for the best place. The mountain hut nearby tells me. he sees them every day. The goats are addicted to this special type of mineral because there are many other dams on the Alps but he only sees mountain goats at the Cingino dam , " Grassi said.