XV 



THE MOUNTAIN-GOAT 



BAILLIEE-GROHMAN refers to the white goat of 

 the Western mountain peaks as the rarest game 

 animal on the North American continent. The state- 

 ment was correct a little over a score of years ago, 

 when it was made. As we have observed, however, 

 this animal was then regarded as a myth by many 

 sportsmen, and only very few had ever seen one even at 

 long range. Our knowledge of the mountain-goat is 

 quite different to-day. The animal is known to be 

 fairly abundant on a number of mountain ranges from 

 Idaho into British America, and in addition to killing 

 many of them, the sportsmen have made many excel- 

 lent photographs of the animals, which have been pub- 

 lished in the magazines. Mr. Shields has recently 

 given us in Rccrcatioji a full-page photograph which 

 he made in Canada, showing one of the trails made by 

 these animals, which is worn so deep as to indicate the 

 passage of a great number of goats. Accompanying 

 the picture is another of one of the goat-licks in the 

 Canadian Rockies, to which Mr. Shields says there 

 are many trails leading from the surrounding moim- 

 tains, which average a foot to two feet in width, and 

 which are in places worn a foot deep in the hard 



earth. 



217 



