THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT 5 



and heroically fighting off dogs while doing so, 

 impressed me with goat spirit. At last cor- 

 nered, she kept up the fight, remaining on 

 her feet after she had been struck by several 

 bullets. 



The goat often does not die nor does he sur- 

 render for some time after receiving a number 

 of fatal wounds, but fights on with telling 

 effectiveness. I imagine he will absorb as many 

 or more bullets, and temporarily survive as 

 long, as any animal in existence. He has the 

 vitality of the grizzly bear. Mountain goats, 

 as the cowboy said of the western horse thieves, 

 "take a lot of killing." 



This same day I saw a number of goats 

 abreast coming head foremost down a nearly 

 vertical smooth wall; they had complete com- 

 posure. They appeared to be putting on brakes 

 with hoofs and dew claws. Loose stones which 

 they occasionally started might have been 

 serious or fatal for one in the lead had they 

 been descending single file. As soon as they 

 reached a ledge at the bottom they stopped to 

 look round, and one of them stood up on hind 

 toes to eat moss from an overhanging rock. 

 Two near-by goats of another flock were limp- 

 ing badly. Possibly they had been struck by 

 flying stones, or they may have been injured by 

 a fall. These two accidents appear to be the 



