THE GAME ANIMALS OF CANADA 87 



The mountain ranges of British Columbia, from the Rockies 

 on the east to the Coast Mountains on the west, constitute 

 the chief stronghold of this remarkable animal. 



Habits. — The characteristic haunts of the Rocky Moun- 

 tain goat are the precipitous rocky slopes and ledges, and 

 the grassy alpine ridges above the timber-line, of the high 

 mountains, where they feed on the grasses, lichens, and 

 other stunted vegetation found among the rocks. In choice 

 of habitat they differ from the mountain sheep. The differ- 

 ence in choice of locality between these two inhabitants of 

 our western mountain ranges is generally known, and the 

 fact is frequently acknowledged by the statement that moun- 

 tain sheep and goats are not often found together on the 

 same mountain. Usually the difference of geological forma- 

 tion between neighbouring mountains provides separate 

 and suitable habitats for both species. 



They combine remarkable steadiness of nerve with agility 

 and sure-footedness on the most precipitous and inaccessible 

 rock faces, and in rock-climbing are the most expert of all 

 American hoofed animals, with more apparent than real 

 stupidity, and great deliberation on occasions when it is 

 least expected. The oddness of their temperament is 

 hardly surpassed by that of their appearance, which is ex- 

 aggerated greatly when they are seen away from their na- 

 tive crags. In spite of the fact that they do not offer the 

 sportsmen either so splendid a trophy or so palatable a 

 carcass as the mountain sheep, they are, nevertheless, an 

 inducement to the most intrepid of cHmbers and cragsmen, 

 who will seek them in their rock-bound pastures, over which 

 their small, sure feet carry them with the greatest ease and 

 safety. The difference in the shapes of the feet of the 

 mountain goat and sheep leads to a difference in the appear- 

 ance of their tracks. In the case of the goat, the open end 

 of the V is in the direction the animal travels, whereas it 

 is reversed in the case of the sheep. 



