The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1880-06-02


On Tuesday the long expected and
Hong wished for Rocky Mountain
sheep. arrived at the Geological Gar
den in Philadelphia. This animal is
one which the Society have for years
been endeavoring to secure, and now
that they have been successful they
naturally feel very much elated over
the acquisition This specimen is a
young female, about year old. and
was purchased from a man in Color
ado recently, and after its arrival in
the Garden was given spacions quar-
ters in the deer park. Mr.. Arthur E.
Brown, the Superintendent of the
Garden, says that tko Rocky Noun
tain sheep is one of the rarest of spec
linens in any collection, and that this
one is the first he has ever seen
There ia no other one on exhibition
on the Atlantic side of the continent
and the only specimens on exhibition
in the West are pair now IN Cali
fornia The scarcity Of these animals
in geological collections is owing to
the great difficulty experienced in
their capture. Like the chsmois,
they live on the very tops of the
mountains, and always stay in the
places most inaccessible to man. The
only wav in which they are brought
down is by means of q rifle, and it al.
ways has happened that they have
been too seriously wounded to keep
them alive. Mr. Brown said this
morning to reporter that, lever since
the Garden was started about half the
United States army (not necessarily
large number of men) have been
trying to secure US Rocky Noun
tain sheep" Tie present animal was
caught soon after it was born, and
the mother was shot. 1t is now q
year old and seems to be in excellent
condition. 1t is now about the size
of 8 good-sized sheep, but will grow
to be much larger. The males. when
full grown, are quite large and won
derfully active, and are provided
with great recurved horns, of prodig
ious size and strength.
Another recent arrival at the Gar
den is that of the four bowling mon
keys from Nicaragua. These ami
mails have the reputation of being
able to make more noise in proper
tion to their size than any other ami
NAL yet discovered, except perhaps
the tree frog. In their native woods,
just before sunrise, the howlers COM
mence, and their dismal bowls, it is
said, can be heard for miles around.
They are enabled to make this terrific
noise by reason of special develop
ment of the vocal organs. They are
small animals, and are generally
found in South America. The ones
at the Garden are known as the
"Mantled Howlers," because of q line
of gray hair around the back and
sides, and are the most northern of
several species. They are the first
which have ever been in the Garden,
rs they are scarco-and nurd 20 cap
ture. Besides that, they are very
delicate, as was shown bv the fact
that the four which arrived here are
all that was left of fourteen which
were sent from Nicaragua. To cap
ture these fourteen little monkeys 1t
took about eighteen men tor several
hours, and necessitsted the cutting
down of about four acres of trees. A
tribe or lot of the animals were OBJ
served in the forest, and the method
by which they were secured was
briefly as follows: The men arst sur
rounded the tribe, so as to drive them
as closely together as possible. Then |
an outside ring of trees we're cut
down, the fall of which drove the
monkeys still closer to the centre. |
More trees were felled, until but q
single clump of two or three trees
were left standing and the monkeys
were sheltered in their branches |
Then one after another of these trees
were cut down, so that all the tribe |
had to take refuge in one tree. The |
capture of number of them was then
q comparatively easy matter. The
four little strangers were placed in |
one of the cages in the monkey house |
With them arrived "blsck- handed
spider monkey" specimens of which |
have been in the collection before
The name indicates just about what
they look like. They have black
hands and long arms and legs, which
make them resemble a spider very
much.
The collection of sea lions has been
enriched by the addition of two sea |
lions, one an adult female and the |
other female cub. They were placed
in the middle pond, where they were J
well received by the heretofore soli-
tary occupant. They were brought
from the Island of San Miguel, off
the coast of Lower California, where
they are found in large numbers.
Both are apparently healthy, and
much is hoped for from the addition. [