OXEN, SHEEP, AND GOAT FAMILY 



53 



looked for on the open tops. In September 

 they feed a trifle lower down. In October they 

 are to be seen most of the time at the tops 

 again. In winter on the Fraser river they may 

 be found on the flatbenches that rise from the 

 river bed ; and they have been known to come 

 down even to the level of the ranches. 



At the town of Ouray, in Colorado, the citi- 

 zens put out alfalfa for the Rocky Mountain 

 Sheep in the winter, and have done so for several 

 years. When it is first put out, the Sheep 



" race down hill " for it. The Sheep " make 

 their appearance after the first heavy snows 

 in December, and stay around until spring, some 

 of them lingering along into April." Although 

 so wild in summer, they will, in winter, come 

 right into the town for their forage. 



The wild enemies of the Bighorn are the Puma 

 and the Lynx, and not a few lambs are annually 

 carried ofif by golden eagles. The flesh of the 

 Bighorn is considered by many hunters to be the 

 most delicious of the mountains. 



DALL MOUNTAIN SHEEP 

 Ovis dalli (Nelson) 



Other Name. — White Mountain Sheep. 



General Description. — See also general description 

 of Rocky Mountain Bighorn. Size and form a.s in the 

 Rocky Mountain Bighorn, but color entirely different. 

 Color, white, or yellowish-white at all seasons. 



Dental Formula. — See the formula given for Rocky 

 Mountain Bighorn. 



Pelage. — No noticeable variation, except a clearer 

 tone of white in winter than in summer. Color entirely 

 whitish, hairs usually tipped with rusty. Sometimes 

 individuals have brownish areas, but these do not seem 

 to be confined to any particular spot. Pelage very 

 dense in winter. 



Measurements. — Length, male. 5 feet ; height at 

 shoulder. 39 inches ; tail. 4 inches. Horns along curve, 

 39 inches; circumference at base. 14 inches. 



Range. — Mountains of Alaska and Kenai Peninsula. 

 Rocky Mountains north of latitude 60° nearly to Arctic 

 coast west of the Mackenzie, thence west to headwaters 



of the Noatak and Kowak Rivers that flow into Kot- 

 zebue Sound. 



Food. — Grasses and "browse." leaves and twigs of 

 shrubs. 



Remarks. — This form is preeminently suited for a 

 life in the snows of the northern regions, and its white 

 coat is doubtless a response to this factor of its envi- 

 ronment. There are three varieties. 



Rel,.\ted Forms 



Dall Mountain Sheep. — Otis dalli dalli (Nelson). 

 The typical white Bighorn of the above description. 

 Sub-arctic America in Alaska Peninsula region. 



Kenai White Mountain Sheep. — Oris dalli kcnaicn- 

 sis Allen. Grayish-white instead of yellowish-white, 

 tipping of hairs grayish instead of cinnamon. Kenai 

 Peninsula. Alaska. 



Fannin Mountain Sheep. — Ovis dalli fannini Horna- 

 day. Practically identical with Dall's Sheep. British 

 Columbia and Yukon. 



The White Mountain Sheep, as Dall's Sheep 

 is often called, is a very striking species, dis- 

 covered in Alaska in 1884 by E. W. Nelson, 

 and named by him Ovis dalli in honor of Prof. 

 W. H. Dall. From October to the beginning of 

 March its coat is pure white, long and thick ; 

 but its texture and color are so delicate that the 

 pelage stains very easily. During the summer 

 months it is of a dirty white hue and very short. 

 Mr. A. S. Reed, who has been a successful 

 hunter of the animal, says: "I killed my first 

 Ovis dalli about the first week in September, atid 

 was very much disappointed in finding it to be 

 quite short in the coat, and of a dirty rustv color, 

 instead of the pure white that I had expected it 

 to be." He adds : " There is one other pecu- 



liarity with regard to the coat of this Sheep — 

 they all have a few black hairs in the end of the 

 tail'." 



This species is smaller than the ordinary Big- 

 horn, rams being about five feet in length, with 

 a height at the shoulders of three and one- 

 quarter feet. The ewes are somewhat smaller. 

 The horns of a fairly large male measure 

 nearly thirty-nine inches along the curve, and 

 have a circumference at base of fourteen and 

 one-half inches. They are, in the young rams, 

 of an almost transparent amber color, but " the 

 older ones are generally darker, and all of them, 

 after being kept for some time, become just like 

 those of the other varieties." Mr. Reed says 

 that all of his have turned quite black. He has 



