THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHEEP. 365 



assure the General that the horns on his specimen had been 

 broken while their former owner was engaged in fighting; . 

 and hundreds of others, which may be seen in museums and 

 in private collections throughout the country, have been 

 broken in the same way. 



Generally speaking, the range of the Rocky Mountain 

 Sheep may be said to extend from Old Mexico to Alaska, 

 and from the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains to the 

 Pacific Coast, though there are some ranges of mountains 

 within these limits in which it has never been found. On 

 the other hand, it ranges down the Missouri and Yellow- 

 stone Rivers to a line some four hundred miles east of the 

 Rocky Mountains. Here it finds refuge in the Bad Lands 

 and rocky, cliffs that border these streams. 



This animal has few characteristics in common with the 

 domestic Sheep. The horns of the wild ram resemble some- 

 what those of the domestic species, although much more 

 massive; but the wild ewe has horns six to eight inches 

 long, that curve backward, while the domestic ewe has none. 

 The wild Sheep has a heavy coat of stiff, coarse hair, much 

 like that of the Elk. Some writers have stated that under- 

 neath this there is a heavy coat of wool. This is an exag- 

 geration. There is but a scant allotment of the wool — not 

 enough to hide the skin when the hair is plucked out. 



In color, also, Ovis Montana closely resembles the Elk, 

 being of a light-brown, or almost red ; in summer, arid turn- 

 ing to a gray in winter. It has the same ashy- white patch 

 on the rump as is seen on the Elk, while the muzzle is 

 lighter colored, and the belly and flanks are white. The 

 tail is only about two inches long, and seems to be entirely 

 useless. 



The rams grow to a height of three feet and six inches 

 at the shoulder, and attain a weight of three hundred and 

 fifty pounds, while the ewes average about one-third smaller. 



The horns of the male grow to a gre,at size. I have in 

 my collection the head of a ram, killed in the Little Mis- 

 souri Bad Lands, the horns of which measure sixteen inches 

 in circumference at the base, and thirty-six and one-fourth 



