American Big Game in its Haunts 



turned, of which three were killed. In British 

 Columbia I have seen twenty-five or thirty sheep 

 working at a lick, from which the earth had been 

 eaten away, so that great hollows and ravines were 

 cut out in many directions from the central spring. 



Examination of such licks in cold — freezing — 

 weather, seems to show that the sheep do not then 

 visit them. I have seen mule deer and sheep nib- 

 bling the soil in company, and have seen white 

 goats visit a lick frequented also by sheep. 



Of Ball's sheep, Mr. Stone declares that it is 

 rapidly growing scarcer, and this statement is based 

 not only on his own observation, bu . on reports 

 made to him by the Indians. Mr. Stone describes 

 it as possessing wonderful agility, endurance, and 

 vitality, and gives many examples of their ability 

 to get about among most difficult rocks when 

 wounded. He adds: "From my experience with 

 these animals, I believe they seek quite as rugged 

 a country in which to make their homes as does 

 the Rocky Mountain goat. They brave higher 

 latitudes and live in regions in every way more 

 barren and forbidding." He reports the females 

 with their lambs as generally keeping to the high 

 table lands far back in the mountains. Among the 

 specimens which he recently collected, broken jaw 

 bones reunited were so frequent among the 



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