Chat
01-16-2022, 09:35 AM
I've heard this story 2nd or 3rd hand from two different sources. Both involve packgoats tethered in camp and a WDFW officer taking nasal swabs.
According to a WDFW officer not tied to the incident (it's just the story going round their office), the packgoats were left unattended for an extended period of time and a field officer decided to take nasal swabs. They were all M.ovi positive and bighorn sheep in the area were later found to be infected with the same strain.
According to the other story, the goats were supervised and a WDFW officer came into camp and started taking nasal swabs over the owner's objection. The officer later claimed that one goat was positive. The owner had the goats tested before and after the incident and none were positive.
I tend not to believe the "official" story because there are far too many holes in it. Among other things, goats can't be left tethered and unattended for extended periods of time. And if unattended packgoats goats were proven M.ovi positive, it would be in the news. If they actually infected a bighorn herd, it would REALLY be in the news! There's no way that story happened the way it's being told around the WDFW office. I tend to believe the story (which I also heard 2nd hand, so details might be incorrect) that there is an activist officer out there harassing legal packgoat users.
According to a WDFW officer not tied to the incident (it's just the story going round their office), the packgoats were left unattended for an extended period of time and a field officer decided to take nasal swabs. They were all M.ovi positive and bighorn sheep in the area were later found to be infected with the same strain.
According to the other story, the goats were supervised and a WDFW officer came into camp and started taking nasal swabs over the owner's objection. The officer later claimed that one goat was positive. The owner had the goats tested before and after the incident and none were positive.
I tend not to believe the "official" story because there are far too many holes in it. Among other things, goats can't be left tethered and unattended for extended periods of time. And if unattended packgoats goats were proven M.ovi positive, it would be in the news. If they actually infected a bighorn herd, it would REALLY be in the news! There's no way that story happened the way it's being told around the WDFW office. I tend to believe the story (which I also heard 2nd hand, so details might be incorrect) that there is an activist officer out there harassing legal packgoat users.