OXEN, SHEEP, AND GOAT FAMILY 



47 



Bedford. One of these survived till 1903. The 

 Copenhagen Zoological Garden received a male 

 calf on October 7, 1900. This was fed on 

 " ground oats and wheat bran, with a very little 

 white bread cut in pieces, besides hay ( grass in 

 summer) and willow and elm branches through- 

 out the year." At last accounts, the animal was 

 doing well, but attempts to cross it with a Yak 

 Cow and a Frisian Sheep had not met with suc- 

 cess. 



The killing of a Musk-Ox has saved many a 

 life in the great Arctic wastes. Peary in his 



great white waste." Further on he says : " A 

 single Musk-Ox when he sees the dogs, will make 

 for the nearest cliff and get his back against it ; 

 but a herd of them will round up in the middle 

 of a plain, with tails together and heads toward 

 the enemy. Then the bull leader of the herd 

 will take his place outside the round-up and 

 charge the dogs." 



Of this method of combining for defense, Mr. 

 Pike says : " On the only occasion when I have 

 seen them held at bay by dogs there has been 

 absolutely no attempt at regularity of formation. 



By permission of the New York Zoological Society 



MUSK-OX 



A young Bull that is doubtless longing for its own frozen wastes, where 

 it must forage for food, instead of having regular meals handed 

 in on a fork 



book, " The North Pole," writes : " For myself, 

 I never associate the idea of sport with Musk- 

 Oxen — too often in the years gone by, the 

 sighting of those black forms has meant the dif- 

 ference between life and death. In 1899, in In- 

 dependence Bay, the finding of a herd of Musk- 

 Oxen saved the lives of my entire party. On 

 my way back from 87° 6' in 1906, if we had not 

 found Musk-Oxen on Nares Land, the bones of 

 my party might now be bleaching uo there in the 



and the calves were often to be seen in the fore- 

 front of an irregular group." The habit is, how- 

 ever, attested by many competent authorities, 

 among whom Mr. Harry Whitney writes : " On 

 gaining the top of the ridge I found thirteen 

 Musk-Oxen at bay, tails together, heads down, 

 in defensive formation. Two dogs, over-ven- 

 turesome, had been gored to death." He men- 

 tions also the fact that " wounded Musk-Oxen 

 display no signs of pain." 



