XIII 



THE MUSK-OX 



THE musk-ox is often called musk-sheep, since it is 

 in some ways more like a sheep than an ox, and 

 is said by the naturalists to be intermediate between 

 these two animals. It is the least known to sportsmen 

 of all North American game animals and few have 

 seen one alive. There is not a single live specimen 

 owned by any of our zoological societies. The New 

 York Zoological Park has had two musk-oxen, both 

 of which died. There are few live specimens in 

 captivity in the world. We are chiefly indebted to 

 the Arctic explorers for our knowledge of the appear- 

 ance and habits of this animal. A few intrepid sports- 

 men have visited the Barren Grounds especially to 

 shoot this animal, and two of them, Mr. Warburton 

 Pike and Mr. Casper Whitney, have written fully of 

 this sport. The Arctic explorer, Mr. Frederick 

 Schwatka, also described a musk-ox hunt in the 

 Century. 



Mr, Hanbury in his new book* says: "The musk- 

 oxen are often absurdly tame. One remained close to 

 us while we were pitching the tent in the evening. As 

 he did not appear disposed to move off I took my 

 camera and approached within about thirty yards 



* Sport and Travel in the Northland of Canada, London, 1904. 



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