Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-10-17
ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHEEP.
THE PECULIAR USE THEY MAKE OF
THEIR BIG HORNS.

Very Scarce and DifHcult to KIn-How
They Curl Themselves Up Into Balls
and Roll Over Lofty P~recipices A
Frishtful Leap.
OF all the game animals in the north
west. and particularly Montana, the Big
Horn or Rocky mountain sheep furnishes
the most sport to huntsmen. Chasing the
buffalo across the plains on horseback ana
killing them with a revolver, which was
at one time the favorite method OF hunt
ing the big bison, used to be the ne plus
mira of Nimrodic amusements in Mon
tana, but since the buffalo have dlsap-
naared hunters nave drifted back into the
mountains. where the COWS Montana
are to be found during late years in great
abundance. There must be lots OF fun
| sCampering over the prairie after a l,5Oo-
nound bull, but there is the heat and NO.
lent exercise, not to speak OF the danger
of YOUR horse plunging into a prairie-dog
holeand sending you downward to grass at
an angle Of 10 to 20 degrees. The
sheep is always found among the peaks
and cliffs in cool altitude and pretty near
the timber or perpetual SHOWN line. Ihe
Big Horn sheep of the Rocky mountains
is a most difficult animal to bag. Iney
are usually found in pairs, often in hocks
of from four to forty, and sometimes IN
bands of a hundred or more. One ola
sbeep-hunter, living Or Prior's fork, near
here relates that he saw not long ago a
flock of eighty-one sheep in the Bitter
Root range, and about five years ago,
while scouting through the Teton basin,
III northern Wyoming, near the southern
boundary of the Yellowstone Natlonal
park, he ran upon a band hat must nave
numbered over 300.
EXCEEDINGLY SCARCE.
These animals range all the way from
Rio Grande to the Mackenzie, but at the
limits named they are exceedingly scarce
and most difficult to kill. Their natural
home is among the mountains Of the up
per Yellowstone and Missouri rivers.
Some few are found in Washington terri
tory, Oregon, and California, but the cen
ter around which they revolye is the
Yellowstone National park and the bor-
derdering counties of Montana, Idaho,
and Wyoming. Particularly are they
plentiful in the mountains from which
they take their name-viz, the Big Horn.
Very little is known of the habits OF this
rare game animal, ever by those who
have written on this subject. They range
winter and summer alike In the
same ATTITUDES and attitudes, only III
ummer they wander farther away Than
in the opposite season. During the cold
months they stay on the southern slopes
of the mountains so as TO catch the sun.
In the summer they are generally found
| on the higher benches, where the bunch
grass and mountain clover are abundant.
Among the peaks where they habituate
one of the first things to appear III the
spring is the wild onion or leek, which Is
eagerly sought out and devoured by
them. This wild plant imparts TO the
flesh a delightful flavor, and makes the
meat of the Big Horn the most delicious
in the mountains. Their greatest enemy
IS the mountain lion. In fest, the prln-
cipal diet of the mountain lion Is the
tender offspring Of the "Ovis Montana. "
When lambs are not to be had, the fierce
North American panther does not object
to feasting on the parents. These rare
sheep are also subject to n sort OF scaO
disease, which, when it becomes cpl
demic, sweeps off at short notice scores of
them, young and old alike. The lambs
are brought forth from the 9Th to the 10Th
of May.
The "Ovis Montana is adorned with the
most remarkable headgear imaginable in
the shape of monstrous horns. These are
used by them for various purposes, but
principally as q means Of defense, Aston
ishing as it may seem, they also use their
immense horns to assist them in descend
ing from one lofty eminence to 4 lower.
If in skipping from crag to crag and from
ridge to ridge it should become necessary
to make n jump downward, no matter
what the height, they roll themselves up
into a kind of ball, vault ont into the air,
and, turning a succession Of somersaults,
keep the ball rolling, so to speak, until
they strike on their powerful horns be-
low. .
VERY HARD TO KILL.
The shock would kill an ordinary ami
NAL, but these hardy denizens of he
mountains don't seem to mind ii much,
for they spring to their feet and go bound
ing over impossible chasms and jagged
rocks until it becomes necessary to make
another descent, when the same tactics
are repeated.
W. b. Dow. of the Green Mountain Cat
tie company, relates that he, saw near his
ranch on Powder river, not long ago, u
band Of 800 mountain sheep. They were
browsing on q lofty cliff, when for some
u~naccountable reason the flock became
stampeded and rushed away like the
whirlwind. On they came pell nell to
the edge of the cliff, which was cut sharp
into a perpendicular decline Of fully 100
feet. The leaders paused, but there was
no help for it. The rear guard crowded
them over, aud the entire flock went neck
over heels down into space. 1t was no
doubt a curious sight to see 300 mountain
sheep doubled up into balls and falling
over such a lofty precipice. Down they
came, one after another, until the whole
band had made the awful jump. AS this
was such q frightful leap for any breath
ing creature to make and live, it is not
surprising to know that thirteen out Of
the 300 were killed by the conclusion. The
cowboys of the ranch secured the meat,
which they declared far superior to their
choice Montana steers.
Some of the mountain-sheep horns at
tain q remarkable size. One pair brought
into this fort last February by q Cheyenne
Indian measured seventeen inches in cir
conference, although only forty inches in
length. The ram from which they were
taken was a splendid specimen, weighing
over 200 pounds, and stood, when erect,
nearly up to a mans shoulders.-For
Keogh Cor. Philadelphia Times.
Don't Ask Too Much of the Memory.
II always carry n good deal Of my bus