2o8 THE OX FAMILY 



animals are fairly abundant. It would be an expensive 

 matter to restock a preserve with these wild and wary 

 sheep. The animals could be made to show a satis- 

 factory increase by keeping down their enemies, the 

 wolves, the cougars and the eagles, which destroy many 

 of the lambs, and by prohibiting the shooting by a club 

 rule for a period of years and limiting it thereafter to 

 the increase of the year. The time is not far distant 

 when the game in the mountains will be worth far 

 more than the land. 



Mr. Stone points out that the territory occupied by 

 the largest of our wild sheep is the best suited to the 

 development of these animals, since they do not experi- 

 ence the long winters known to their relatives farther 

 north, nor do their pastures become dry and parched 

 like those ranged by their relatives in California and 

 Mexico. 



It was not until 1884 that a new variety of big-horn 

 was discovered ; the white sheep, ovis dalli, was named 

 in honor of Professor Dall. This sheep is white 

 throughout the year. It is not so large as the common 

 big-horn; the horns are not so heavy and are lighter 

 in color. The range of this sheep is from Alaska south 

 through the Rocky Mountain regions to the Liard 

 River: and this sheep is said to have "the most 

 northerly range of any sheep in the world " and " the 

 most extensive of any in North America." 



The black big-horn was discovered by Mr. Stone, 

 from whom it was named by Dr. Allen, who described 

 it in 1897 as the ovis stonei. Mr. Stone regards his 

 sheep as the handsomest of the American wild sheep; 

 they are the darkest, shading from a gra3^ish brown to 



