Nature’s Top 40: Britain’s Best Wildlife. Chris Packham

      After mating, the goats will wander much less during winter as they devote their attentions to searching out food, with their multi-purpose horns sometimes being used to scrape away snow to access the vegetation below. The goats will of course know their home ranges well and, when the weather is particularly inclement, they may well rest in favourite retreats in among the crags or scree slopes until conditions improve. The female groups stay together until the end of February, when the mothers will peel away to give birth to a single kid of two to three kilograms in among the rough scree or rocky terrain.

      The kid is left hidden for the first couple of weeks, with the mother coming back several times during the day and night to suckle it, after which the kid joins the mother in the all-female group, where the two will keep in close contact by call until the youngster becomes weaned. It seems that climbing in the most precipitous areas is an inherent trait for goats and, in no time, the kid will have taken to the cliffs and the scree slopes like a duck to water. Very occasionally twins are born, but, in such a demanding environment and with the mother only able to produce a certain amount of milk, it is very rare for both to survive.

       For good or bad, these hugely adaptable and resilient animals seem here to stay.

      Bill Coster

      The number of goats within the Snowdonia National Park has increased over the last 30 years from a relatively stable number of between 250 and 320 to around 500 goats, making them easier to track down now than for a generation. It is thought that this increase may well be due to the recent run of mild winters, and, with climate change affecting mountainous environments perhaps more strongly than elsewhere, their numbers are predicted to increase, causing a knock-on effect of too much grazing unless the population is kept in check.

      Contrary to popular opinion, there seems little competition between goats and sheep for food, as the goats predominantly graze on woody, shrubby and coarse-leaved plants such as the bark from trees and the leaves of heather and bilberry in areas that the sheep may not be able to reach. The goats, however, are capable of causing considerable damage to trees by bark stripping and browsing, and, where this has happened in some of the important woodland sites on the lower slopes, they have had to be immediately removed. Undoubtedly, the goats have also caused resentment among local farmers as they steal the mixed-feed left out for the sheep and damage drystone walls. All interested parties, therefore, agree that the numbers of goats will have to be carefully controlled in order to achieve a healthy and balanced population that will harmoniously coexist with, rather than overgraze, the environment.

      While unquestionably non-native, the goats have a place in both the cultural heritage and ecology of some of our most treasured wild locations. So, if you enjoy both high-octane wildlife behaviour and being in the mountains, then the feral goats could run the Alpine ibex a very close second!

31 Swallows and martins feeding

       The swallow is surely one of Britain’s best-loved birds. After the depths of winter and the slow, cold wind-up to spring, the first swallow arriving back in Britain after its marathon journey from southern climes is a most welcome sight. The harbinger of summer was perhaps best summed up by the famous naturalist Gilbert White, who, in 1789, called swallows ‘inoffensive, harmless, entertaining, social and useful’.

       Swallows and martins

       WHEN

       Mid-April to late October

       WHERE

       Mostly open locations with safe nest sites, and preferably open water, anywhere in rural Britain

       Well-fed swallows preparing for departure to sunnier southern climes for the winter.