The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-09-09
ABOUT MOUNTAIN SHEEP
HE PAPER entitled Notes ON the
Mountain sheep Of North Amer
ica," written by william r. HOrna-

L HE PAPER entitled Notes on the
Mountain sheep Of North Amer
ica," written by william r. Horna-
day director Of the New York Zoo
logical park. and just published by the
New York Geological society, describes 4
new species of mountain sheep recently
discovered in the Klondike country, and
contains a great deal of matter regard
| ing these animals of special interest to
the hunter says the New York Sun.
For many sportsmsn the mountain
sheep Of the Rocky mountains - the ideal
game. The all but inaccessible places in
which the animal makes his home, his
marvellous agility. and, above all. the as
| tonishing keenness Of his perception of
the approach OF a foe combine to make
the quest Of him the highest type of
SPORT.
In addition there is the legitimate rea-
son for killing mountain sheep. that Of
all wild animals known there il NO other
whose flesh Is SO savOry. % juicy and
so nutritious and digestible. And fond
ness for mountain mutton 10 by no means
confined to man alone. The wolves ana
grizzly bears OF the Rockies that have
once got to killing mountain sheep new
err get over the habit.
1t IL from man Of all their foes that the
sheep suffer most and there is good rea-
son to fear that in some regions at least
they may meet the fate Of the extinct
buffaloes. On this subject Mr. Hornaday
says: owing to the fact that the sur
vivfng mountain sheep inhabit only the
most remote and Inaccessible regions. the
difficulty in affording them legal protec-
ton from slaughter is IS very great. For
tunately for our wild animals public SEN
timent in favor of their preservation
from extinction Is rapidly spreading and
the lines Of protection are each year be-
ing more tightly drawn. OF the thirteen
states inhabited by mountain sheep. Cali
fornia and Nevada alone have failed to
enact laws for their protection. Five
states have enacted for this species a
perpetual close season-Arizona. Colorado
Montana, North Dakota and Utah. Their
good example 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 our own Rocky
mountains. that had been known for
more than a century. In 1884 the pure
white mountain sheep of Alaska and
uOTlHWCSlcIu SAAduA WClC OC0CAAOCO w
E. w. Nelson and named owls dalli in
honor OF Prof. William H. Hall OF
Washington. Next in order Of discovery
came Nelson's mountain sheep, owls nell
soni of southern California. In 1896,
while on an exploring expedition in the
Cassiar mountains of northern British
Columbia, A. ]. Stone discovered tho
very interesting dark-colored species Of
TOT dooorihad hv nr n
Allen in 1897 and named owls stonei, in
honor of it's discoverer. Concerning the
discovery of the last species Of noun.
tain sheep thus far known, Mr.. Horn.
aday says:
1.-THE discovery Of gold on the Klondise
river, Northwest Territory. has led to
the discovery of still another species Of
mountain sheep, which may justly DO
regarded as the handsomest and most
striking in color markings Of all known
species Of the genus owls. While in Vic
toria, B. c., last November, the atten-
ton 81 the writer was called by John
Fanin to the skin and skull Of noun
tain sheep which had been sent dowa
from Dawson City by Henry w. Brown
as specimen of owls stonei. and pre-
sented by him to the Provincial museum
An examina ton of the skin
revealed the startling fact that it repre-
sents a species absolutely new to sci
ence, and so strikingly differentiated as
to render its title to independent spe-
cif1c rank beyond question:
The popularity in the marking of the
owls fannini, as the new species Of
mountain sheep Is called in honor OF
John Fannin, is that it looks like an or
binary 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 rump
of the animal are all snowy white; the
entire body, with these exceptions, IS a
brownish gray. This marking Is differ
ent from that of any other species OF
mountain sheep known.
Sled loads Of frozen carcasses of these
sheep are often seen in the Dawson mar
kets 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 az any man living. prob
ably. ard he has given an account Of his
experiences. Mr.. Stone says:
Five out of twenty-five specimens
shot by me tumbled over preciptous
walls into inaccessible places. and were
lost. One of the lost five was found in a
bunch of three resting on ledge SEEM
ingly not over foot wide, on the face
Of cliff fully 2.0O0 feet high from base
to summit, over which I leaned and
watched them for some time unobserved.
How they reached the place or left it.
could never tell.
Zone of my Indians came in one night,
and reported having crippled large ram
which he failed to get. The next morn
ing we hunted in that direction.
AS it (the Sheep turned toward me and
caught sight of me. raised my rifle and
fired. 1t fell. turning completely over: