THE BIG-HORN SHEEP 



163 



ram if he can help it, but sneaks after the ewes and lambs, waiting until 

 they get on somewhat level ground, and then running one down by sheer 

 speed before it can take refuge among the secure fastnesses of the 

 precipices. 



The cougar relies on stealth, not on speed, and gets his game either by 

 fair stalking or else by lying in wait. Sometimes he can creep up to a 

 band while they are taking their siesta ; but generally they keep too sharp 

 a lookout, and he has to approach them while they are feeding, or when 

 they have come down to drink. Some fifteen miles from my ranch is a 

 tract of very rough country, the sides of the hills falling off into precipices 

 or into dark, cedar- clad gorges. This was a favorite resort of mountain 

 sheep ; but one spring a couple of cougars took up their abode in the neigh- 

 borhood, and soon killed several of the sheep and drove the others away. 

 Judging by the tracks and by the position of the carcasses, they must have 

 done the killing in the morning and evening, creeping up to the doomed 

 animals as they fed on the lower slopes, or lurking round the spring-holes 

 and little alkali pools where they drank. The great war eagle is one of 

 the worst enemies of the young lambs. 



In the rutting season a ram will make a good fight if he has any chance 

 at all, and at that time is very bold and pugnacious. If followed by a 

 dog he will frequently decline to run, turning to bay at once. One hunter 

 whom I knew killed several in this way by the aid of a collie. Of course 

 it cannot be done when once the sheep have begun to realize that the dog 

 is merely an ally of the man, for they then look out for the latter. 



Sheep are easily tamed, if taken young, and make amusing pets. A 

 friend in Helena, Montana, once owned a tame ram. When young he was 

 a great favorite. He was an inquisitive, mischievous creature, of marvel- 

 ous activity. It was impossible to keep him out of the garden. A single 

 hop would carry him over the high fence ; if an inmate of the house came 

 to the rescue, another hop carried the intruder once more into outside 

 safety, and a third took him back again the second the rescuer had 

 turned around. Whenever he got the chance he would pull down the 

 clothes that had been hung up to dry. When he could get inside the 

 house he was fond of walking on the mantel-piece. He was the terror of 

 the Chinese cook, whom he soon discovered to be afraid of him, and 

 would lie in wait outside the kitchen door so as to butt him when he 

 appeared. This was at first done in mere playfulness ; but as he grew 

 older he became morose and quarrelsome, and had to be disposed of. 



It is impossible to hunt big-horn successfully without some knowledge 

 of their habits. They go down to drink in the very late evening, or some- 



