The Mountain Sheep and its Range 



disturbed. That this habit was taken advantage 

 of to destroy them will be shown further on. 



To-day, if one can climb above timber line 

 in summer to the beautiful green alpine meadows 

 just below the frowning snow-clad peaks in regions 

 where sheep may still be found, his eye may yet be 

 gladdened by the sight of a little group resting on 

 the soft grass far from any cover that might shel- 

 ter an enemy. If disturbed, the sheep get up 

 deliberately, take a long careful look, and walking 

 slowly toward the rocks, clamber out of harm's 

 way. It will be labor wasted to follow them. 



Such sights may be witnessed still in portions 

 of Montana and British Columbia, Idaho, Wyo- 

 ming and Colorado, where bald, rolling mountains, 

 showing little or no rock, are frequented by the 

 sheep, which graze over the uplands, descending 

 at midday to the valleys to drink, and then slowly 

 working their way up the hills again to their illim- 

 itable pastures. 



Of Ball's sheep, the white Alaskan form, we 

 are told that its favorite feeding grounds are bald 

 hills and elevated plateaus, and although when 

 pursued and wounded it takes to precipitous cliffs, 

 and perhaps even to tall mountain peaks, the land 

 of its choice appears to be not rough rocks, but 

 rather the level or rolling upland. 



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