THE GAME ANIMALS OF CANADA 87 
The mountain ranges of British Columbia, from the Rockies 
on the east to the Coast Mountains on the west, constitute 
the chief stronghold of this remarkable animal. 
Habits ——The characteristic haunts of the Rocky Moun- 
tain goat are the precipitous rocky slopes and ledges, and 
the grassy alpine ridges above the timber-line, of the high 
mountains, where they feed on the grasses, lichens, and 
other stunted vegetation found among the rocks. In choice 
of habitat they differ from the mountain sheep. The differ- 
ence in choice of locality between these two inhabitants of 
our western mountain ranges is generally known, and the 
fact is frequently acknowledged by the statement that moun- 
tain sheep and goats are not often found together on the 
same mountain. Usually the difference of geological forma- 
tion between neighbouring mountains provides separate 
and suitable habitats for both species. 
They combine remarkable steadiness of nerve with agility 
and sure-footedness on the most precipitous and inaccessible 
rock faces, and in rock-climbing are the most expert of all 
American hoofed animals, with more apparent than real 
stupidity, and great deliberation on occasions when it is 
least expected. The oddness of their temperament is 
hardly surpassed by that of their appearance, which is ex- 
aggerated greatly when they are seen away from their na- 
tive crags. In spite of the fact that they do not offer the 
sportsmen either so splendid a trophy or so palatable a 
carcass as the mountain sheep, they are, nevertheless, an 
inducement to the most intrepid of climbers and cragsmen, 
who will seek them in their rock-bound pastures, over which 
their small, sure feet carry them with the greatest ease and 
safety. The difference in the shapes of the feet of the 
mountain goat and sheep leads to a difference in the appear- 
ance of their tracks. In the case of the goat, the open end 
of the V is in the direction the animal travels, whereas it 
is reversed in the case of the sheep. 
