58 



MAMMALS OF AMERICA 



Here we have another case in which an animal 

 has been popularly misnamed. Just as the 

 Pronghorn has been miscalled the American 

 Antelope, it not being a true Antelope, so our 

 friend Orcamnos uwntanus is popularly known 

 as the Rocky Mountain Goat, although it is not 

 a Goat, but rather a goatlike Antelope. It is, in 

 fact, most nearly related to the Alpine Chamois 

 and the Himalayan Serow. 



The so-called Goat of the Rocky Alountains is 

 a sturdy animal set on short, stout legs, and 



ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT 



This is one of the few animals which are white at all seasons 

 of the year. The horns and hoofs are jet-black, forming 

 a striking contrast to the beautiful coat 



weighing somewhat over 250 pounds. Its hoofs, 

 upon which the bold climber has to depend so 

 largely for its safety, are aptly described as con- 

 sisting " of an ingenious combination of rubber- 

 pad inside and knife-edge outside, to hold the 

 owner equally well on snow, ice, or bare rock." 

 Its horns, present in both sexes, are about ten 

 inches long, rough for about half their length, 

 the remaining portion being smooth, and jet 

 black ; they curve backward. The animal stands 

 about three feet high at the shoulders. 



The fleece of the Rocky Mountain Goat is 

 entirely yellowish white, and, like the pelage of 



the Musk-Ox, consists of a fine wool next the 

 skin, through which grows an outer covering of 

 long, straight hair. This hair being erect along 

 the line of the back, and longer over the 

 shoulders and hind quarters, gives a double- 

 humped appearance to the animal. From the 

 color of its fleece, it is sometimes called the 

 White Goat. 



In spite of the comparative inaccessibility of 

 its haunts, the range of the Mountain Goat is 

 apparently lessening. At any rate, sportsmen 

 and hunters find that it occurs in much smaller 

 numbers than formerly, mainly in the States of 

 Idaho, Montana and Washington, and north- 

 ward throughout British Columbia. Amidst the 

 grandest, wildest scenery, above the timberline, 

 crossing the faces of precipices that seem almost 

 perpendicular, dwells Orcamnos in serene and 

 contented isolation. 



The well-known writer Stewart Edward 

 White, who hunted the animal in the Cascade 

 Mountains, a few years ago, gives in Outing 

 an admirable description of typical Goat country. 

 Mr. White had been hunting Elk in the dense 

 forests at the foot of a mountain, when one of 

 his companions suggested that they should go 

 to the top and look for Goats, adding " It isn't 

 very far." Says Mr. \Miite : " It was not very 

 far, as measured by the main ranges, but it was 

 a two hours' steady climb, nearly straight up. 

 . . . Three times we made what we thought was a 

 last spurt, only to find ourselves on a false sum- 

 mit. After a while we grew resigned ; we real- 

 ized that we were never going to get anywhere, 

 but were to go on forever . . . and then at last the 

 sudden, unexpected culmination. We topped a 

 gently rounded summit ; took several deep 

 breaths into the uttermost cells of our distressed 

 lungs ; walked forward a dozen steps — and 

 found ourselves looking over the sheer brink of 

 a precipice. Across the face of the clifT below us 

 ran irregular tiny ledges ; buttresses ended in 

 narrow peaks ; chimneys ran down irregularly to 

 the talus. Here were supposed to dwell the 

 Goats. We proceeded along the crest spying 

 eagerly. We saw tracks, but no animals. At 

 last we found ovirselves cut off from farther 

 progress. To our right rose tier after tier of 

 great cliffs, serenely and loftily unconscious of 

 any little insects like ourselves that might be 

 puttering around their feet. Straight ahead the 

 ledge ceased to exist. To our left was a hun- 

 dred-foot drop." 



Owen \\'ister says: " It has been stated that 

 in the winter season, like Mountain Sheep, the 



