Ibex Climbing
December 12, 2020 7:36 AM Subscribe
The kid doesn't fall.
posted by hat_eater at 7:51 AM on December 12, 2020 [11 favorites]
posted by hat_eater at 7:51 AM on December 12, 2020 [11 favorites]
Thanks for the spoiler. I shoulda read the comments first ‘cause I noped out pretty quick. I’ll try and watch now.
posted by kinnakeet at 7:56 AM on December 12, 2020
posted by kinnakeet at 7:56 AM on December 12, 2020
That was too scary for me after I saw the baby slip. I had to jump ahead to the end!
posted by pangolin party at 7:57 AM on December 12, 2020
posted by pangolin party at 7:57 AM on December 12, 2020
Whybex!?
posted by moonmilk at 7:58 AM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by moonmilk at 7:58 AM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
my name is ibex;
when im yung
i nede to sample
with my tung
the tastes much higher
than i am
i clim the rocks
i lik the dam
posted by moonmilk at 8:04 AM on December 12, 2020 [80 favorites]
when im yung
i nede to sample
with my tung
the tastes much higher
than i am
i clim the rocks
i lik the dam
posted by moonmilk at 8:04 AM on December 12, 2020 [80 favorites]
Friendly spoiler for squeamish folks - despite the tension-building cinematography and sound, everybody is totally fine in this video. The ibex climb the dam to lick the salts from the stones, and they are very capable climbers.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:05 AM on December 12, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:05 AM on December 12, 2020 [8 favorites]
Actually I probably shouldn't have been scared. I don't think I've ever seen a BBC nature program in which they build up the tension and then a cute baby animal plunges to its death.
posted by pangolin party at 8:09 AM on December 12, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by pangolin party at 8:09 AM on December 12, 2020 [8 favorites]
I want to put a salt lick closer to the ground for them!
posted by tiny frying pan at 8:11 AM on December 12, 2020 [24 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan at 8:11 AM on December 12, 2020 [24 favorites]
What did they do before dams were invented?
posted by BWA at 8:11 AM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by BWA at 8:11 AM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
But why do they have to go so high up?
I almost peed in my pants, it was really scary to look at. But the end was nice, where an ibex merrily runs across the almost vertical surface as if was a rolling green meadow.
posted by mumimor at 8:14 AM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I almost peed in my pants, it was really scary to look at. But the end was nice, where an ibex merrily runs across the almost vertical surface as if was a rolling green meadow.
posted by mumimor at 8:14 AM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Seriously, they need to put out salt licks at some distance from the dam. The animals are clearly desperate for the minerals and this is just asking for trouble.
That said, cute little ibex kid!
posted by darkstar at 8:19 AM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
That said, cute little ibex kid!
posted by darkstar at 8:19 AM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
This is one of those phenomena that makes the rounds on social media from time to time, but the BBC video does a good job of showing and explaining what is going on. I expect the US version to show up soon:
EXTREME SALT LICKS! Wednesdays at 9:00/8:00 Central on Animal Planet.
posted by TedW at 8:28 AM on December 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
EXTREME SALT LICKS! Wednesdays at 9:00/8:00 Central on Animal Planet.
posted by TedW at 8:28 AM on December 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
Watching some other ibex videos, where they are just hanging out on similar (natural) slopes, helped ease my frustration that someone wasn't putting out salt licks at the bottom of the dam. As amazing as it looks, it doesn't seem like this terrain is out of the ordinary for that species, and if they weren't up there getting salt, they'd be chilling somewhere similar, taunting less nimble predators.
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 8:39 AM on December 12, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by mrgoldenbrown at 8:39 AM on December 12, 2020 [5 favorites]
Also, I wonder if Golden Eagles have taken advantage of this opportunity, given that they sometimes like to knock goats off cliffs as a hunting technique. (warning: the goats don't survive)
posted by TedW at 8:41 AM on December 12, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by TedW at 8:41 AM on December 12, 2020 [5 favorites]
Cloven hooves FTW
posted by cman at 8:48 AM on December 12, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by cman at 8:48 AM on December 12, 2020 [8 favorites]
I know, I know, don't read the comments, but:
"This is an accurate description of how my parents claim they got to school."
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 8:54 AM on December 12, 2020 [26 favorites]
"This is an accurate description of how my parents claim they got to school."
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 8:54 AM on December 12, 2020 [26 favorites]
I don't think I've ever seen a BBC nature program in which they build up the tension and then a cute baby animal plunges to its death.
Don't watch it if it wasn't sarcasm. (It's not the fall that kills the chick but a) I was convinced it died and b) it still dies.)
posted by hat_eater at 9:14 AM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Don't watch it if it wasn't sarcasm. (It's not the fall that kills the chick but a) I was convinced it died and b) it still dies.)
posted by hat_eater at 9:14 AM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
I wonder if they see pregnant women licking that dam.
From the NYT: HUNGER FOR SALT FOUND TO BE POWERFUL INSTINCT
Dr. Denton believes that pregnant women's craving for special foods may be related to the salt appetite because such cravings often include salty items. He cited a case of one woman who ate 1,400 salted herring in a single pregnancy.
posted by waving at 9:16 AM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
From the NYT: HUNGER FOR SALT FOUND TO BE POWERFUL INSTINCT
Dr. Denton believes that pregnant women's craving for special foods may be related to the salt appetite because such cravings often include salty items. He cited a case of one woman who ate 1,400 salted herring in a single pregnancy.
posted by waving at 9:16 AM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
How can 1,400 salted herring all share a single preganc.... oooh, got it.
posted by biogeo at 9:45 AM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by biogeo at 9:45 AM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Theories about why the salt is so high on the dam. The brackish water only gets down a little way before it dries. Less likely-- most of the salt lower down has already been licked off.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 10:06 AM on December 12, 2020
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 10:06 AM on December 12, 2020
The way ibex are able to climb the dam is inherently interesting and not uncommon for the species, as we can see at the end of the video. So why do nature docs constantly try to frame their segments around anthropomorphized narratives of risk and childhood? Are our senses so dulled that only appeals to heightened emotional stakes mean anything now, no matter how inapt?
posted by gusottertrout at 10:10 AM on December 12, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by gusottertrout at 10:10 AM on December 12, 2020 [6 favorites]
Climbing cliffs like this is more natural for ibexes than driving 60 mph down a road for groceries. A lot of the things humans do is downright frightening, when you think about it.
posted by explosion at 10:40 AM on December 12, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by explosion at 10:40 AM on December 12, 2020 [6 favorites]
goat dam that's impressive
posted by chavenet at 10:41 AM on December 12, 2020 [21 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 10:41 AM on December 12, 2020 [21 favorites]
The ibex: best mammal by a dam site!
posted by echo target at 10:46 AM on December 12, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by echo target at 10:46 AM on December 12, 2020 [7 favorites]
I did not realize until today that watching adorable animals fall from great heights, or avoid falling from great heights, was a favorite video genre. Thanks, hat_eater, TedW, and the OP.)
I'm also reminded of the often repeated and paraphrased Haldane quote, "You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away, provided that the ground is fairly soft. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes." I'm jealous of the birds. My body is close enough to a goat or an ibex to look at them with the same astonishment I feel when I see human motorcylists split lanes.
posted by eotvos at 10:50 AM on December 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
I'm also reminded of the often repeated and paraphrased Haldane quote, "You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away, provided that the ground is fairly soft. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes." I'm jealous of the birds. My body is close enough to a goat or an ibex to look at them with the same astonishment I feel when I see human motorcylists split lanes.
posted by eotvos at 10:50 AM on December 12, 2020 [4 favorites]
Speed up to the precipice and then slam on the brakes
Some people crash two or three times and then learn from their mistakes
We are the ones who don't slow down at all
And there's nobody there to catch us when we fall
posted by kaibutsu at 10:56 AM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Some people crash two or three times and then learn from their mistakes
We are the ones who don't slow down at all
And there's nobody there to catch us when we fall
posted by kaibutsu at 10:56 AM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
Looking at the dam, one reason I would be extremely frightened to climb such at thing (without safety ropes etc) is that it looks like it would take just one little slip and then you would be sliding all the way down to the bottom, with no chance of recovery.
It seems like it would be rather impossible to climb such a slope without miscalculating and slipping a bit, even once. And then that would result in disaster.
From that perspective, it was actually heartening and enlightening to see the footage of the goats slipping all over the place but then just easily recovering and continuing on their way. Some combination of their stance, the four legs, and the exact nature of their hooves some to make it rather easy to slip and then recover on this type of slope and surface.
If you don't know, there are a number of species adapted to climbing very steep slopes and cliffs. It might scare you and me, but they literally live there. Presumably it gives them protection from predators and access to food (and minerals, it seems) not easily available to other grazers. The ones I've seen around my neck of the woods are mountain goat and bighorn sheep.
posted by flug at 11:25 AM on December 12, 2020
It seems like it would be rather impossible to climb such a slope without miscalculating and slipping a bit, even once. And then that would result in disaster.
From that perspective, it was actually heartening and enlightening to see the footage of the goats slipping all over the place but then just easily recovering and continuing on their way. Some combination of their stance, the four legs, and the exact nature of their hooves some to make it rather easy to slip and then recover on this type of slope and surface.
If you don't know, there are a number of species adapted to climbing very steep slopes and cliffs. It might scare you and me, but they literally live there. Presumably it gives them protection from predators and access to food (and minerals, it seems) not easily available to other grazers. The ones I've seen around my neck of the woods are mountain goat and bighorn sheep.
posted by flug at 11:25 AM on December 12, 2020
"goat dam that's impressive"
Ibex your pardon but for them it's rather ordinary.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 12:14 PM on December 12, 2020 [5 favorites]
Ibex your pardon but for them it's rather ordinary.
posted by Hairy Lobster at 12:14 PM on December 12, 2020 [5 favorites]
I see where Goat Yoga received it’s inspiration. Climbing humans is dam easy in comparison.
posted by mundo at 12:33 PM on December 12, 2020
posted by mundo at 12:33 PM on December 12, 2020
This stressed me out
posted by latkes at 12:59 PM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by latkes at 12:59 PM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I know we don't see it here, but comparatively, how many human and how many ibex corpses are found at the bottom of that dam every year?
On edit: Be glad those things don't have opposable thumbs.
posted by Nanukthedog at 1:04 PM on December 12, 2020
On edit: Be glad those things don't have opposable thumbs.
posted by Nanukthedog at 1:04 PM on December 12, 2020
The recommended next video for me on Youtube after watching these overly intrepid ibexes was Stoffel the honey badger who can escape from anywhere, and can I just say that I have a new animal hero. A+ will watch again.
posted by Go Banana at 1:29 PM on December 12, 2020 [12 favorites]
posted by Go Banana at 1:29 PM on December 12, 2020 [12 favorites]
I want to put a salt lick closer to the ground for them!
posted by tiny frying pan
My very first thought.
posted by Splunge at 1:35 PM on December 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by tiny frying pan
My very first thought.
posted by Splunge at 1:35 PM on December 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
Stoffel doesn't care... Stoffel doesn't give a shit...
posted by Windopaene at 3:58 PM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Windopaene at 3:58 PM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
The ones I've seen around my neck of the woods are mountain goat and bighorn sheep yt .
While we were driving through the Rockies once, my sweetie (driving) called my attention to a bighorn sheep. Due to background noise, I construed this to be her telling me to look at the big orange jeep, of which I saw none.
From that day to this, I cannot hear it as anything other than big orange jeep.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:19 PM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
While we were driving through the Rockies once, my sweetie (driving) called my attention to a bighorn sheep. Due to background noise, I construed this to be her telling me to look at the big orange jeep, of which I saw none.
From that day to this, I cannot hear it as anything other than big orange jeep.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:19 PM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
I wonder if the mother deliberately takes the kid up the damn so it learns how to climb? Also, given where else ibex like to go, I wonder if the damn is in fact easy mode, with the regular rocks?
posted by Canageek at 5:41 PM on December 12, 2020
posted by Canageek at 5:41 PM on December 12, 2020
It would be interesting if any medieval armies militarized mountain goats to scale castle walls. One could fire salt pellets at the top of the walls to motivate the goats.
posted by mundo at 6:50 PM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by mundo at 6:50 PM on December 12, 2020 [1 favorite]
What the mother doesn't do is hesitate to lead her progeny to where they can get a nutritional element essential to their growth, doing everything to ensure the success of the next generation.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 8:14 PM on December 12, 2020
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 8:14 PM on December 12, 2020
Some combination of their stance, the four legs, and the exact nature of their hooves some to make it rather easy to slip and then recover on this type of slope and surface.
Also some combination of being naturally gravitationally oriented, as opposed to visually oriented via camera angles deliberately chosen to make the slope look far steeper than it actually is.
Alex Honnold could sleep on that wall.
posted by flabdablet at 9:34 PM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
Also some combination of being naturally gravitationally oriented, as opposed to visually oriented via camera angles deliberately chosen to make the slope look far steeper than it actually is.
Alex Honnold could sleep on that wall.
posted by flabdablet at 9:34 PM on December 12, 2020 [2 favorites]
While the Cingino dam does have a slope, it is still extremely damn steep.
posted by tavella at 11:24 PM on December 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by tavella at 11:24 PM on December 12, 2020 [3 favorites]
Spider goat, spider goat...
posted by tuckshopdilettante at 4:04 AM on December 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by tuckshopdilettante at 4:04 AM on December 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
Proprioception is a proper superpower.
posted by sonascope at 6:32 AM on December 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by sonascope at 6:32 AM on December 13, 2020 [1 favorite]
"Salt lick" is the greatest product name in the history of civilization. The ingredients and directions are in the name.
What is it? Salt.
What do you do with it? Lick it.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:11 AM on December 16, 2020
What is it? Salt.
What do you do with it? Lick it.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:11 AM on December 16, 2020
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