The 'Goat Man' Calleth

You just cannot make this stuff up. How could I not go right to this story when it came down the pike into my Google Alerts? Goat Man in Utah Mountains Identified as Hunter.

The story goes, according to ABC Good Morning America's website, that a hiker saw someone dressed like a goat among a herd of wild mountain goats on July 15 in the mountains about 40 miles north of Salt Lake City. Of course, he alerted the authorities.

What did that call sound like, Uh, I think I saw a dude dressed up like a goat in the mountains?

Actually, the hiker said that this particular goat stuck out from the herd, and trailed behind it. Said the hiker, We were the only ones around for miles. It was real creepy."

So, naturally, the folks at the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources expressed an interest in finding the creepy goat man.

Shortly afterward, the goat man, a 57-year-old Californian (no, really, keep reading … it gets better), called and confessed that it was he who was among the goats. And that he was just trying out his goat suit in preparation for a Canadian mountain goat hunt. Supposedly, the goat man gave the wildlife officer enough information that the officer felt confident he was, in fact, talking to the right goat man.

The Californian fashioned the goat costume out of a painter's uniform and a fleece. It also sported fake horns and a cloth mask with eye-holes cut in it.

Although it is not illegal (yet) to dress as an animal, it is dangerous - especially during hunting season.

Personally, I think that it's unnatural and might upset the ecosystem of the species if hunters insist on spending their off-seasons dressed as whitetail or antelope or God forbid, elk (Would that take two guys in a suit?) and stalking herds.

What do you think?

Do you think, and who woulda thunk, that a new law is now required from wildlife agencies - that dictates that humans may not dress as animals and stalk them?