ON THE SHEEP RANGES 45 



which was on the other side of the crest. In this and 

 the other basins, in the pastures, and on the clear areas, 

 grizzly bear diggings were abundant. More grizzly bears 

 come to such places to dig out squirrels early in the spring 

 than at other seasons, and by June they begin to roam 

 and are not often seen. The b^ar already killed was the 

 last we saw on that trip. Abundant diggings, however, 

 do not indicate abundance of bears, as one will dig over 

 much country. All the diggings that I saw near the 

 divide could have been made by two or three bears. 



We reached the crest and, going forward, looked down 

 a few hundred yards below on the snow where the carcass 

 lay. Not far below it, on a bank of snow close to the 

 creek, was a small ram standing rigidly, with apparent 

 alertness, looking up directly at us. Rungius at once 

 started to circle around the slope and stalk him. The ram 

 at times kept licking the snow, now and then looking up 

 at us, and I could not understand his indifference. We 

 saw Rungius, when he had approached sufficiently near, 

 sit down and fire. The ram jumped as if hit, and walked 

 on the snow out of sight, while Rungius ran and dis- 

 appeared in the gorge. Gage and I hastened down and 

 saw him sitting near the dead ram. The bullet having 

 passed through its hind quarters, it had been unable to 

 escape. It proved to be the young ram I had wounded 

 and followed three days before. My bullet had struck 

 and shattered his lower jaw and he was unable to eat. 

 The poor creature was already reduced to skin and 

 bones, and had evidently suffered from thirst. He had 

 wandered back to find the band, but was growing too 



