18 



CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



hastened up to the camp to see it. It proved to be the head of a young 

 bighorn, but on account of the short horns and hair, now bleached 

 nearly white through weathering, the mistake had been very natural. 



The mountains of the region are much like all the southern California 

 mountains, with brush-covered, south-facing slopes, while the shaded 

 north-facing areas are fairly well wooded. The outstanding feature of 

 this particular resion is IMount San Antonio, or better known as "Old 

 Baldy," which stands 10,080 feet above sea level. From it radiate 

 great mountain ridges to the north, east, west and southwest, much as 

 spokes from the hub of a wheel. The whole system is thus connected 

 up by continuous ridges. In this great extent of territory the sheep 

 occupy a very definite area. This includes Ontario, Cucamonga and 

 Telegraph peaks, with their intervening ridges, also Iron Mountain and 



Fig. 19. United States Geological Survey topographic map, showing the distribution of 

 big-horned sheep in the vicinity of Mount San Antonio (Old Baldy). 



its connection with "Old Baldy," and the ridge between this latter 

 peak and Telegraph (see fig. 19). In the writer's opinion, this is the 

 area of their widest distribution, their favorite haunts being the region 

 around Ontario, Cucamonga and Telegraph peaks. 



To seek out and study the sheep in this array of .iagged spurs and 

 protecting hollows is a task difficult in itself, and is made none the 

 easier by their timidity. Their wariness was impressed upon the writer 

 by an encounter on June 12, 1915. The approach to Telegraph Peak 

 was made by the ridge from "Old Baldy." While this peak was yet 

 a considerable distance away, the writer's attention was attracted to 

 a spot near the summit by a clear, thin rattling caused by a rock slide 

 down the steep slope. It was apparent that some large animal was the 

 cause of it, and close scrutiny disclosed three heavy-bodied animals 

 bounding up the mountainside with great speed, and with no regard to 



