48 HOOFED ANIMALS 



the crown seldom rising above the upper line of the shoulders 

 and back, and the face is too long for beauty. The horns 

 are so small, short and severely plain that they are neither 

 beautiful nor imposing. 



The weight of this animal is about that of the Virginia 

 deer. The shoulder height of a good average-size male is 

 39 inches, length of head and body 61 inches, tail 4 inches, 

 girth 53 inches and weight 276 pounds. The females average 

 about one-fourth smaller. Except in length and color of 

 pelage the Mountain Goat is clad after .the style of the musk- 

 ox. Next to the skin it wears a dense coat of fine wool, 

 through and far beyond which grows a long, outside thatch 

 of coarse hair. When free from dirt both these coats are 

 clear white and contain no patches of color. Behind each 

 horn is a peculiar bare patch of black, oily skin, the size of a 

 half-dollar. The horns are small, smooth, very sharp-pointed 

 and jet black; and the longest on record measure 113^ inches. 

 The cannon bone is proportionately the shortest to be found 

 in any large ungulate. 



This animal is not likely to be exterminated very soon, 

 chiefly because of its inaccessibility, its lack of beauty as a 

 trophy, and the expenditure of time, money and muscle that 

 is necessary to get within gunshot of it. Its flesh is so musky 

 and dry that it is not palatable to white men save when they 

 are exceedingly hungry, and its skin has no commercial value. 

 Nevertheless, in the United States the White Goat has been 

 so much sought by sportsmen and others who like difficult 

 hunting that now it is found only in Washington, Idaho and 

 northwestern Montana. Northward of our boundary it is 



