THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT 15 



he is rarely attacked by the lion, wolf, or bear. 

 True, the kids are sometimes captured by eagles. 



There are a number of species of wild goats 

 in the Old World in southern Europe, in 

 many places in Asia and in northern Africa. 

 The white Rocky Mountain goat is the only 

 representative of his species on our continent. 

 He is related to the chamois. Some scientists 

 say that this fellow is not a goat at all, but 

 that he is a descendant of the Asiatic antelope, 

 which came to America about half a million 

 years ago. This classification, however, is not 

 approved by a number of scientists. The 

 Rocky Mountain goat, Oreamnos montanus, is 

 in no way related to the American antelope, 

 and it would take a post-mortem demonstra- 

 tion to show the resemblance to the African 

 species. 



By any other name he would still be unique. 

 Dressed in shaggy, baggy knickerbockers, he is 

 a living curiosity. I never see one standing 

 still without thinking of his being made up of 

 odds and ends, of a caricature making a ludi- 

 crous pretense of being alive and looking 

 solemn. And then I remember that this ani- 

 mal is the mountaineer of mountaineers. 



