Hello friends,

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph a small flock of mountain goats. It was something unexpected, one of those times when you return home with the camera on the passenger seat after a whole day photographing other bugs, and suddenly, after a couple of turns in the road... there they appear, almost on the outskirts of the town, eating peacefully, knowing that despite being outside their natural territory, no one will bother them because they are lucky to live in what we humans call emptied Spain.

The photos in this article were taken almost a month ago, in mid-March 2023. I was spending a few days in one of those areas now known as "empty Spain." The truth is that being in these areas during the off-season, where virtually no one lives and which only receives tourists a few months a year, is a privilege these days. Few humans can enjoy the wonders of nature when we let it run wild.

For example, and in this specific case, I would never have expected to see a large group of mountain goats On the outskirts of a small village, which in the summer welcomes 300 of the village's children. These same village children who, over the last century, were abandoning the village because there was no work or resources. Now, the village remains empty, practically 10 months a year.

Are you sure they are mountain goats?

The goats have learned that during those quiet months, when no cars or human voices are heard, they can come down from the cliffs and mountains to the outskirts of the village, and graze in complete peace without having to balance and risk their ankles 😉

So when I located them just 100 meters from the entrance to the town the first thing I thought was Are you sure they are mountain goats? Indeed. Those goats weren't in their place, or that place wasn't right for that group of goats... something didn't fit with the picture.

But yes, they were goats. Unmistakable with those black markings on their legs, those strong muscles, much more developed than those of deer or roe deer. Furthermore, some might mistake them for roe deer from a distance if they don't know how to distinguish the two species well. Roe deer usually have a white tuft for a tail and a more grayish color on their bodies. While goats have a more brownish color and a very characteristic black tail.

Furthermore, the horns of mountain goats develop a very characteristic pattern and curvature, even when they are still young.

Typical environment of the mountain goat

So... yes. My eyes weren't deceiving me. That was a group of mountain goats. Even so, I remained dumbfounded. I couldn't believe that such a large group was peacefully grazing, like a flock of sheep, on the outskirts of a small village... and that they even allowed me to approach them to a ridiculous distance, almost 100 meters!

And some of you might say, "Well, I've been up to the Sierra de Madrid... or to the Gredos Circus... and right in the parking lot, there's always a group of goats that aren't afraid of humans." I know, I've visited those places too. But in those places of mass tourism, the spirit of the mountain goat has been reduced almost to that of a domestic cat.

They love to approach humans, those strange bipedal animals who always carry food hidden in strange, shiny aluminum foil.

On the other hand, the place where I was is known to be a large and long area. big game hunting traditionIn the area where I was, animals never approach humans, as their experiences with humans almost always involve the sounds of gunshots, blood, pain, and possibly death.

That's why, in the area where I was, the mountain goats have confined themselves to the steep cliffs and twists and turns of the Tagus River ravines. It's not easy to see them during the day. But the animals aren't stupid, and when things are calm, they tend to relax too. And that's precisely what happens during these months outside the summer and tourist season. Empty villages, almost abandoned farmland... the animals roam freely in a region that was very different 50 years ago.

That's why I love my "job"

And that's why I love this "work" of dissemination that I do with the Fotogario blog and the YouTube channelI love spending days lost in the mountains or forests during the off-season, visiting semi-abandoned places where nature and animals have gradually reclaimed the spaces they had lost.

Yesterday we found a group of mountain goats eating peacefully.

Today we do not rest and we already have our lunch....today we go in search of steppe birds (Published in Facebook)