, 1876-03-31
The ChamOis.


There is perhaps no animal so peace
full, and at the same time so timid, as the
chamois. Nature, therefore, besides en-
dowing it with facility of climbing into
the most inaccessible places, and thus
avoiding pursuit, has enabled it to guard
against the approach of danger by the
great acuteness of its senses of sight,
smell and hearing. 1t is this which makes
it so very difficult to get near them. A
rolling stone or spoken word at
once attracts their attention; and they
will look and listen to discover whence
the sound has come that breaks the silence
of their mountain solitude. For an in
credibly long time they will stand gazing
fxedly in one direction, quite immovable
and if it happen to be towards something
in your neighborhood that their attention
has been attracted, you must lie still and
close Indeed to escape their observa-
ton. The eyes of the whole herd will
be fixed on the spot in a long steady stare
and as you anxiously watch them from
afar, they almost look like fragments OF
rock, so motionless are they while they
gaze. You begin to hope they have found
no cause for alarm, when, "Phew" the
sharp whistle tells they have fathomed
the mystery, and away they move, to the
precipitous rocks overhead; unless panic.
stricken, they stop from time to time to
look behind; and then suddenly uttering
a peculiar sound, again move on.
| 1t is true that on the mountains, when
an awful silence ever broodsy the slightest
noise breaking the stiffness is heard with
wonderful distinctness a great way off; ;
but even making allowance for this, there
is sufficient evidence that the senses of
these animals are particularly acute. If
but the gentlest wave be moving in the
air, coming from you to them, they at
once become aware of your presence,
long before you perceive them or they
see you. In the human being this par
ticular sense is, comparatively speaking,
less developed than the others. 1t is the
one which man least needs, not wanting
it for his safety, but possessing it solely
to minister TO his pleasures. When,
therefore, we find it extremely acute in
another animal, it strikes us more than
any example of an unusually sharp sight
or an extraordinary power of hearing
Just as we are always more astonished
at that in another which we are least able
to achieve ourselves. A chamois, when
dashing down the mountains, will sud-
denly stop as if struck by a thunderbolt,
some yards from the spot where recent
human footprints are to be found in the
snow, and turning scared away, rush of
Immediately in an opposite direction.
The faint which the presence of the hunt
er has left behind is perceived by it long
after he has passed.
The agility of the chamois has be-
come almost proverbial; but to have any
idea of what it is, one must be an eye
witness Of the bounds they will make,
and see the places they will race down at
full speed when pursued. A smooth sur
face Of rock, so smooth that a footing
there seems impossible, and of nearly per-
pendicular steepness, is no obstacle to
their fight. Down they go, now bound
ing, now gliding with a velocity which
seems to insure their being inevitably
dashed to pieces. The chief strength of
the animal is in its hind legs, which, If
extended, would be longer than the
others. On this account it springs up
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the mountain,and on level ground its walk
is clumsy and ungraceful. 1t isnot made
70 run, but bounds along over the ground.
| The hoof is cloven, long and pointed, and
the slot Of the chamois resembles that Of
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causes it to slip easily on the ice, and on
this account itrather avoids passing the
glaciers. When standing, the hind legs
are always bent as if the animal were
preparing to lie down, which no doubt
helps considerably to break the fall when
leaping from great height. The elias
tic force which the hind legs possess is
immense. With q sudden bound the
chamois will leap up against the face of
a perpendicular rock, and merely touch
ing it with his hoofs, rebound again in an
opposite direction to some higher crag,
and thus escape from spot where, with
out wings, egress seemed impossible.
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