16 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



Efforts to domesticate the wild Eocky Mountain sheep have not been 

 crowned with success. Some crosses between it and the domesticated 

 sheep have been formed, but we are not aware that the progeny was 

 fruitful or that the experiment was persisted in. 



The Indians have been successful hunters of the wild sheep, killing 

 them in great numbers for their flesh and skins; but the most dangerous 

 enemy they have to encounter is the civilized man, who, with long- 

 range rifle, hunts them for sport. Thanks, however, to the almost inac- 

 cessible feeding grounds which they inhabit, the wanton, criminal de- 

 struction that has overtaken the elk, the moose, and the buffalo has not 

 seriously followed the footsteps of the free inhabitant of the Eocky 

 Mountains. 



A subspecies of the Ovis montana is found in Alaska, and has been 

 named Ovis montana Dalli, or the Northern mountain sheep, sometimes 

 called Ball's mountain sheep. This sheep differs from the Ovis mon- 

 tana in its nearly uniform dirty- white color, the light-colored rump area 

 seen in the typical montana being entirely uniform with the rest of the 

 body in Dalli. The dinginess of the white over the entire body and 

 lirnbs appears to be almost entirely due to the ends of the hairs being 

 commonly tipped with a dull rusty speck. On close examination this 

 tipping of the hairs makes the fur look as if it had been slightly singed. 

 This form also has smaller horns than its southern relatives, and it car- 

 ries to the extreme the variations in the shape of the horn observable 

 in the northern examples of the normal variety. In general form the 

 Alaskan sheep is considerably smaller than its southern relative of the 

 Eocky Mountains and Canada. It is quite as wild and difficult of ap- 

 proach, fleeing not only from the sight of man, but running the moment 

 they catch wind of his presence. 



The range of this sheep is limited to the higher mountains of the 

 Territory, except in the extreme northern portion, within the Arctic 

 Circle, where it ranges down nearly to the sea level. Following the 

 main range of the Eocky Mountains, it is found in the southeastern 

 part of the Territory, and north along those mountains to the point 

 where the chain swings to the west, and along this western extension, 

 known as the Alaskan range, it is numerous nearly to the head of Bris- 

 tol Bay. In this portion of the mountains Ball's sheep is found upon 

 the Pacific Slope as well as on the northern side. It is supposed to 

 inhabit also the peninsula of Alaska, but has not been observed on any 

 of the islands, being confined, apparently, to the mainland. 



Owing to the absence of suitable mountains these sheep do not occur 

 between the lower Yukon and Kuskoquin rivers, but inhabit the bluffs 

 and high mountains along the Yukon Eiver above Fort Yukon and 

 across to the head waters of the Tanama, and north of the Yukon they 

 are next found in the Eomanzoff Mountains, from which point they 

 range west to the Kariak Peninsula, near Bering Straits. They are 

 also found abundantly along the courses of the Kowak and Nunatog 



