WILD SHEEP AND GOATS 233 



almost twice the size of any other living Goat, but it is the long, 

 shaggy hair that makes the appearance deceptive. The pelage is 

 only exceeded for softness and fineness by one other American 

 hoofed mammal, namely, the Musk Ox, "but the hairs are coarser 

 and stiffer along the spinal column. The wool was formerly formed 

 into a sort of felted yarn by the Indians by teasing it and then 

 rolling it under the palm on the bare thigh." 



It inhabits the upper forest regions of the Rocky Mountains, 

 and although it is an adept at climbing, it is quite unlike the last 

 species under review so far as concerns its mobility and active 

 disposition, for it neither bounds, leaps nor springs, relying largely 

 on "sheer muscular power and flexibility of limb " to carry it to its 

 high haunts in the mountain tops. It is found where the climate is 

 damp and where the snow is abundant, but once the stalker gets 

 over these difficulties, and those of circumventing dangerous moun- 

 tain-sides and precipices, the Rocky Mountain Goat is said to fall 

 an easy prey, being gentle and unsuspicious. 



Although slow in its movements as compared with the Chamois, 

 it is wonderfully sure-footed, and gets over the ground slowly but 

 surely, mounting higher step by step. If the hunter can keep up 

 with his quarry his first experience must be one of surprise, for we 

 are told that when the White Goat knows you are after him, he 

 will stop and turn back, "to peer around the corner and see what 

 you are " ! It has been aptly called a stately animal with a long 

 white apron ; it has straw-yellow eyes (those of the kids being black), 

 and, according to Frederick Irland, really seems "too unsophisticated 

 to shoot." 



An interesting account of a climb after this North American 

 animal was given by Mr. Grinnell in Scribner's Magazine, and with 

 a quotation from this sketch the notes concerning it may be con- 

 cluded. Mr. Grinnell says : "Although the (Rocky Mountain) Goat 

 is nearly related to the Chamois it has little of the activity of that 

 nimble species. The Bighorn is the runner and jumper of the 

 Western Mountains, whilst the Goat is the plodder. He gets over 

 the ground and climbs the loftiest peaks by main strength and 

 awkwardness. The Bighorn rushes away along the mountain-side 

 at a headlong pace ; the alarmed Goat starts straight for the moun- 

 tain-top at a rate which seems slow, often no more than a walk, but 

 which is so steady and continuous that it soon carries the animal 

 out of the way of danger. 



