THE GAME RESOURCES OE ALASKA. 
477 
pits not only his skill and cunning but also liis strength and agility 
against those of the animal. 
MOUNTAIN GOAT. 
The higher parts of the mountains of the southeastern coast of 
Alaska, although eschewed by sheep and caribou, are inhabited by 
white mountain goats (Oreamnos montunus). a They are confined 
almost entirely to the coast side of the mainland mountains, as they 
rarely extend far into the interior or to the islands lying near the 
coast. Their range in Alaska is thus a narrow strip extending from 
Portland Canal northwest to the western spurs of the Chugach 
Mountains near the head of Cook Inlet. Although unevenly dis¬ 
tributed goats are fairly common throughout most of this region and 
can be found within comparatively short distances of busy towns, as 
Ketchikan, Wrangell, Juneau, Skagway, and the settlements on 
Prince William Sound. (See fig. 50.) 
With the exception of the pronghorn antelope the mountain goat 
is zoologically the most peculiar of American game animals, and with 
the possible exception of the musk ox its habits are the least known. 
Despite its name it is not a goat, nor is it an antelope, though having 
more in common with the antelopes than with the true goats. At 
present its nearest relatives are the curious Asiatic serows and gorals 
and the well-known chamois, all of which belong to a group collect¬ 
ively termed goat-antelopes. It lives almost entirely at high alti¬ 
tudes, frequenting steep cliffs, rock-walled canyons, and summits 
of an even more forbidding nature than those traversed by mountain 
sheep. To approach a mountain goat successfully is more a feat of 
mountaineering than of crafty hunting. This is partly because the 
goat keeps watch only over the country below him, so it is necessary 
to get above—and to get above a white goat is in most cases to get 
to the ultimate heights. But the scenery of the mountains on the 
Alaskan coast is among the finest in the world, and one who has good 
lungs and strong legs has little cause to regret that the goat leads him 
among crags and peaks. 
The flesh of the mountain goat, except in young animals, is strong 
and not especially palatable, while its hide has little commercial value. 
Moreover, the animal can not be obtained by lazy methods, and hence 
is in no danger of extirpation. It has short, strong legs, a short 
neck, and a thick, heavy body, withal presenting a clumsy appear¬ 
ance quite the reverse of what might be expected from the precarious 
nature of its habitat. The horns, which are present in both sexes, 
“The goats of the Alaska coast belong to the subspecies columbianus and 
lcennedyi, distinguished by large size and cranial characters, but their respective 
ranges and relationships are not thoroughly known. 
