238 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT 



America possesses only one species of wild 

 goat, the place of this genus being taken in the 

 southern part of the continent by the camel-like 

 guanacos. The ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT, the North 

 American representative of the group, is a some- 

 what anomalous creature. It has very few of the 

 characteristics of the European and Asiatic species. 

 In place of being active in body and vivacious 

 in temperament, it is a quiet, lethargic creature, 

 able, it is true, to scale the high mountains of the 

 North-west and to live among the snows, but with 

 none of the energetic habits of the ibex or the 

 tahr. In form it is heavy and badly built. It is 

 heavy in front and weak behind, like a bison. The 

 eye is small, the head large, and the shoulders 

 humped. It feeds usually on very high ground ; 

 but hunters who take the trouble to ascend to these 

 altitudes find little difficulty in killing as many wild 

 goats as they wish. These goats are most numerous 

 in the ranges of British Columbia, where they are 

 found in small flocks of from three or four to 

 twenty. Several may be killed before the herd is 

 thoroughly alarmed, possibly because at the high 

 altitudes at which they are found man has seldom 

 disturbed them. None of the domesticated sheep 

 or goats of the New World are indigenous to the 

 continent of America. It is a curious fact, well 

 worth studying from the point of view of the history 

 of man, that, with the exception of the llama, the 



dog, and perhaps the guinea-pig, every domesticated animal in use from Cape Horn to the 



Arctic Ocean has been imported. The last of these importations is the reindeer, which, though 



the native species abounds in the Canadian woods, was obtained from Lapland and Eastern Asia. 

 The history of this effort at acclimatisation is curious, and maybe quoted in this connection. 



When the first rush to Klondike was made, the miners were imprisoned and inaccessible during 



the late winter. The coming of spring was the earliest period at which communication could 



be expected. to be restored, and even then 



the problem of feeding the transport animals 



was a difficult one. The United States 



Government decided to try to open up a 



road from Alaska by means of sledges drawn 



by reindeer, and the Canadian Government 



devised a similar scheme. Agents were sent 



to Lapland and to the tribes on the western 



side of Bering Sea, and deer, drivers, and 



harness obtained from both. The deer 



were not used for the Klondike relief ex- 

 peditions by the Americans ; but theanimals 



and their drivers were kept in Alaska, native 



reindeer were caught, and the latest news of **"* h Ml " E ' 7 ' B ' ck 



the experiment is that the deer were found HIMALAYAN TAHR AND YOUNG 



Very useful for Carrying the mails in winter. The typical representative of the short-horned -wi/J goats 



Photo by Mist E. 7. Beck 



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 



