Musk Ox 
7. Fannin’s Sheep.  Ovts fannint Hornaday. Similar, but shoul- 
ders, back and upper parts of legs gray. 
Range. Rocky Mountains, about 75 miles east of Dawson, 
Northwestern Territory. 
Musk Ox 
Ovibos moschatus (Zimmerman) 
Length. 6 feet. Height at shoulder, 3 feet 6 inches. 
Description. Heavily built with rather short legs and horns of the 
male very heavy, their bases meeting on top of the head 
and curving downward and up again at the tip. Entire head 
and body covered with a dense mane, matted and curly on 
the shoulders, but hanging straight on the rest of the body 
nearly to the ground. Colour very dark brown or blackish 
on the head and sides; a saddle-shaped patch on the back 
as well as short hair between the horns, muzzle and limbs 
below the knees and hocks yellowish white. 
Range. Arctic barrens of North America, east of the Mackenzie 
River. In Greenland occurs the closely allied Peary’s musk 
ox (O. wardi Lyddeker). 
The herds of musk oxen, now confined to the Arctic regions 
of North America, would seem to be the last lingering represen- 
tatives of a diminishing race. Related species formerly inhabited 
most of Siberia and parts of northern Europe, as well as Ger- 
many, England and France; their fossil remains having been found 
in all those countries. 
Musk oxen are curious long-haired shaggy beasts, in appear- 
ance half way between bison and sheep, and combining both in 
structure and habits the characters of each. The old males are 
rank of musk, especially in the rutting season, when their flesh 
is practically uneatable. The females, as a general thing, are al- 
most free from the musky odour to which the species owes its 
name. 
It has been observed by the musk ox hunters that when the 
animals are fat the odour of musk is much less noticeable. The 
long woolly coat of the musk ox is highly valued by the Esqui- 
maux who use it for various purposes. 
Musk oxen associate in herds numbering from about twenty or 
thirty to as many as eighty or a hundred head. The herds ap- 
pear to be largest in winter, the big bulls during the summer 
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