14 WATCHED BY WILD ANIMALS 
ice to control my descent and bring more 
bearing surface as a brake on the ice. I hitched 
along. Pausing on a projecting rock to look 
round, I discovered two goats watching me. 
They were within a stone’s toss. Both were 
old and had long faces and longer whiskers, 
and both were sitting dog fashion. They made 
a droll, curious appearance as they watched me 
and my every move with absolute concentra- 
tion. 
I do not know how long the average goat 
lives. The few hunters who have been much 
in the goat’s territory offer only guesses con- 
cerning his age. One told me that he had shot 
a patriarchal billy that had outlived all of his 
teeth and also his digestion. The old fellow 
had badly blunted hoofs and was but little more 
than a shaggy, skin-covered skeleton. 
Although his home is a healthful one, the con- 
ditions are so exacting and the winter storms 
sometimes so long, severe, and devitalizing, that 
it is probable that the goat lives hardly longer 
than twelve or fifteen years. 
The goat is, I think, comparatively free from 
death by accidents or disease. Until recently, 
when man became a menace, he had but few, and 
no serious, enemies. Being alert and capable 
among the crags, and in defense of himself ex- 
ceedingly skillful with his deadly sharp horns, 
