142 DENIZENS OF THE DESERT 



hunters to get back into remote mountain 

 ranges where until lately the sheep had at least 

 some immunity from molestation because of 

 their isolation. The hunters who go into the 

 desert by automobile are too often unwilling to 

 hunt in real sportsmanlike manner, and they 

 resort to the most miserable and contemptible 

 means for bringing in their game. Having sup- 

 plied themselves with plenty of ammunition 

 (generally enough, as one old-timer said, to kill 

 all the sheep between Death Valley and the 

 Mexican border), tobacco, and grub, they locate 

 a water-hole to which the sheep are accustomed 

 to resort, and then wait for the sheep to come in 

 to drink. Often they care nothing for the age 

 or sex of the animals, and an indiscriminate 

 slaughter of the young and females through 

 many seasons is bringing its sure result — a 

 gradual extinction of one of our noblest desert 

 animals. It is remarkable that the sheep have 

 held their own as well as they have. 



