SOME ANIMALS OF YUKON TERRITORY 315 



of the sheep those which are less than three years old, 

 but more often those which are less than two years old. 



The lynx watches the sheep, for hours, if necessary, and 

 after sneaking to a point toward which sheep are moving, 

 crouches upon a rock and, as a sheep passes, attempts to 

 leap upon its back. 



I have no facts as to the method of the wolverine's 

 attack, but, its gait being slow and awkward, the attack 

 must be by concealment and pouncing from above. There 

 is a positive record, reported by so reliable a man as Joseph 

 Keele, of a wolverine concealing itself in the branches of 

 a spruce tree and leaping on the back of a moose.* 



After observing foxes in the sheep country for several 

 years, and after numerous examinations of their stomachs 

 and the refuse about their dens, I have no evidence indi- 

 cating that they attempt to prey upon sheep, old or young. 

 During several months' observation where sheep were 

 abundant and when the snow was on the ground, fox 

 tracks never suggested that foxes hunt sheep. It may be 

 possible that they sometimes take lambs. 



It is doubtful if sheep are attacked in the dark, since 

 at that time they are resting high on a mountain in rough 

 places safe from their enemies. 



Thus the eagle and the lynx attack sheep from above. 

 The wolverine probably attacks in the same way. At the 

 critical moment of capture, therefore, the sheep is seen, 

 by his most persistent enemies, from above. 



Mr. Thayer lays special stress on the angle of vision 

 from which enemies see their prey at this crucial moment 



* Forest and Stream, Vol. LXXI, p. 971, December 19, 1908. 



