Goat's Poio

Poio das Cabras is maybe one of the strongest marks of survival inside the mountains of the Peneda-Gerês National Park. This is the name commonly attributed to the place chosen by the shepherds to shelter the autochthonous wild goats and protect them from the attacks of the Iberian Wolf. This attitude certainly comes from the observation of the also autochthonous Lusitanian Goat, extinct by the end of the XIX Century, which wandered the Gerês Mountain and used the steeper granite rocks to protect themselves from the wolf. It is still possible to observe these places, marked by the visible corrosion caused by the acid urine of the goats forming showy discharges and made the rocks become white or pink. This region is called Porto Novo and corresponds to an intersection between the Cabril River and the ancient trail of shepherds. At this place the river becomes more aggressive grooving the rocks in a way that they almost become a gorge. Sometimes it was impossible to return home with the cattle so this was a safe place to stay during the night. In fact a little rough shelter still exists there. The evidence that it was a safe place lies in the existence of a rectangular, tight guard rail sealing the entrance of the shelter preventing the wolf to enter.