The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-08-03
ARouT MoUNrAIN sHEEP.
W. 7. Hornaday Tells Of a New
Species in the Klondike.

Mountain Sheep of North America
written by William T. Hornaday, di-
rector of the New York geological park,
and Just published by the New York
Geological society, describes a new
species of mountain sheep recently dis
covered in the Klondike country, and
contains a great DIAL of matter regard
ing these animals of special interest to
the hunter
For many sportsmen the mountain
sheep Of the Rocky mountains is the
ideal game. The all but inaccessible
places in which the animal makes his
home, his marvellous agility. and, above
all, the astonishing keenness Of his per-
ception Of the approach Of foe COM
bine 10 make the quest of him the high
est type of sport.
In addition there is the legitimate
reason for killing the mountain sheep,
that of all wild animals known there is
no other whose flesh is so savOry. so
juicy and so nutritious and digestible.
And fondness for mountain mutton is
by no means confined to man alone.
The wolves and grizzly bears of the
Rockies that have once got to killing
mountain sheep never get over the
habit.
It is from man of all their foes that
the sheep suffer most, and there is
.
gions, at least. they may meet the fate
/ of the extinct bunaloes. On this sub
gzst Mr.. HOrnaday says: Owing to the
TACT that the surviving mountain sheep
inhabit only the most remote and in
accessible regions, the difficulty in at
fording them legal protection from
slaughter is very great. Fortunately
for our wild animals, public sentiment
| IN fEVOr Of their preservation from eX-
/ tinctiOn is rapidly spreading, and the
| lines of protection are each year being
more tightly drawn. OF the thirteen
states inhabited by mountain sheep.
/ California and Nevada alone have
/ failed 20 enact laws for their prOtec-
/ ton. Five states have enacted for
! this species perpetual close season
/ Arizona, Colorado. Montana, North
Dakota and Utah. Their good example
4 should be followed by each of the other
! eight"
/ Prior to November of last year only
] four species of American mountain
\ sheep were known and classified. The
\ best known of these was the familiar
big horn. owls montana of our own
/ Rocky mountains, that had been known
/ for more than a century. In 1884 the
] pure white mountain sheep of Alaska
: and northwestern Canada were de-
! scribed by z. w. Nelson and named owls
] DALI. in honor Of Professor William II.
/ Dali Of Washington Next in order Of
/ discovery came Nelson's mountain
/ sheep, owls nelsoni of southern Cali
! fOrnia. In 1896. while on an exploring
| expedition in the Cassiar mountains of
/ northern British Columbia, A. J. Stone
! discovered the very interesting dark
/ cOlOTed species Of mountain sheep de-
/ scribed By DR., J, A. Allen in 1897, and
named owls stOnei, in honor Of its dis
\ cOVerer. Concerning the discovery Of
| the last species of mountain sheep thus
| far known, Mr.. Hornaday says:
| THE discovery of gold on the KlOn-
| dixie river, Northwest territory, has led
to the discovery Of still another species
/ of mountain sheep, which may justly
/ be regarded as the handsOmest and the
/ most striking in color markings Of all
/ known species of the genus owls. While
/ in Victoria, 3. c., last November, the
! attention of the writer was called by
/ John Fannin to the skin and skull of a
mountain sheep which had been sent
I down from Dawson City by Henry W.
! Brown as a specimen Of owls stOnei.
and presented by him to the Provincial
| museum. An examination Of the skin
revealed the startling fact that it
represents a species absolutely new 70
science, and so strikingly differentiated
as TO render its title to Independent
specific rank beyond question"
The peculiarly in the marking of
the owls fannini, as this new species
of mountain sheep is called in honor
Of John Fannin, is that II looks ike an
ordinary mountain sheep with a brown
blanket thrown over his back The
head, throat, chest, abdomen, the in
sides Of the legs and part Of the
rUmD of the animal are all snowy
white; the entire body, with these ex-
ceptiOns, is a brOwnish gray. This
marking is different from that Of any
other species of mountain sheep known.
q q q
Sled loads of frozen carcasses of
these sheep are often seen in the Daw-
son markets now, and as the gold
hunters have come to know the good
qualities of the meat, the war upon
the sheep is growing every day more
active.
"A. J. Stone Of the American Museum
Of Natural History knows about as
much concerning the difficulties OF
mountain sheep hunting as any man
living, probably, and he has given an
account of his experiences. Mr.. Stone
says:
Five out of twenty-five specimens
shot by me tumbled over precipitOus
walls into inaccessible places, and were
lost. One of the lost FIVE was found in
a bunch of three resting on a ledge
seemingly not over a foot wide, on the
face of a cliff fully 1000 feet high from
base to summit. over which 1 leaned
and watched them for some time IN
observed. How they reached the place
or left it could never tell
. / One OF my INDIANS came III Out
night, and reported having crippled Z
large ram, which he failed to get. The
I next morning we hunted in that direc
ton. As it (the Sheep turned
Toward me and caught sight Of me,
| raised my rife and fired. 1t fell, turn
ing completely over; then it jumped vi
and was away across the ridge like Z
shot, its broken leg swinging like ;
pendulum at every jump.
LAS soon as / could recover from M
/ surprise [ followed as fast as 1 cOult
run, only to see it disappear over
side of the next canon Il circled tn
side of the canyon wall. and took
stand on a jutting ledge of rock, from
which, if I shot it, it would topple OF
down on the rocks several hundred fee
below, and be ruined as a specimen
so I sat down to await its pOssiDl
q change OF position.
After a short while my white ma
! and natives arrived, and two of theT
| decided to go around and chase hiT
q down. AS they approached him, dow
. | he went apparently as lively as evel
I and another chase took place lastin
e until the white man was played out.
e From the edge OF the canyon coul
q | watch every move. Twice the nativ
., tried his smooth bore without effec
= and I began to think the ram woul
e get away from him. II climbed a dee
e cut between two high turTets in tn
e side of the canyon wall nearest me an
u found its way into d deep cavity in tn
e sid of aun IF the GREAT ma EfIrlf abIl