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GIFT OF
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THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT
By
MADISON GRANT
SECRETARY OF THE NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
REPRINTED FROM THE NINTH ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
Jl^eto got* Ecological
NEW YORK
OFFICE OF THE SOCIETY, 11 WALL STREET
1905
EARTH
saBN
LIBRARY
t\ J ^COPYRIGHT, IQOS, BY THE
NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
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EARTH
SQBNCES
L1BRAHY
PAGE
TYPICAL MOUNTAIN GOAT COUNTRY. Frontispiece.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT AND SHEEP ........ 6
GOAT COUNTRY ^ 8
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT (Dead) , . . . ... . . . .10
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT (Head) . . . . . . . . . .11
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT (Mounted Specimen) 14
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT (Mounted Specimen) . . . . .15
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT AND SHEEP . . r~~ 17
SEVEN MOUNTAIN GOAT KIDS 19
KIDS OF MOUNTAIN GOAT AND SHEEP . 21
Two GOAT KIDS 23
MOUNTED HEAD (Front) '"... 26
MOUNTED HEAD (Side) 27
SKULL OF GOAT (Front) ........... '. . 30
SKULL OF GOAT (Side) /.... . ... 31
M
REPRINTED FROM THE
Annual Hrport of tlje JBeto gork ^oolqstcal H>odet|>.
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT.
By MADISON GRANT.
THE white or Rocky Mountain goat shares with the musk-ox
the honor of being the least known of the game animals of
North America and descriptions of it written even as recently
as ten years ago are valueless, as in many cases this animal is
confused with white mountain sheep and even with deer. The
explanation of this lack of knowledge lies in the extremely re-
mote and inaccessible habitat of the goat, which begins in the
northwestern United States, among the highest peaks of the
Rocky Mountains and of the coast ranges and extends north,
through British Columbia, into Alaska. The material in most
natural histories, relating to this animal, is scanty and based
on very inadequate information, since the opportunity to see
and hunt it has not been granted to many. In captivity, we
have had, on the Atlantic coast, only eight immature specimens,
two in Boston in 1899, two in Philadelphia in 1893, and the
four now (1905) living in the New York Zoological Park. One
well grown male is living at this time in the London Zoological
Garden.
As a result of this scarcity of direct knowledge, many myths
have gathered around this mountain dweller, leading, as usual
in our North American game animals, to an abundance of inap-
propriate names. The name "goat" is objectionable, but will
have to stand until some better term can be found. The Stoney
Indians in Alberta use the name "Waputehk," and in Chinook,
the universal jargon of the Northwest, the goat is called Snow
Mawitch (white deer). Neither of these terms are likely to be-
come common. It is not a goat, nor even closely related to them,
but is the sole representative on this continent, of a very aberrant
group of so-called mountain antelopes, known to science as the
Rupicaprince, a Subfamily of the Bovidce.
THE MOUNTAIN ANTELOPES.
The Rupicaprince comprise five widely scattered genera, ex-
tending from the Pyrenees of Spain, to the Rocky Mountains of
the western United States, as enumerated below.
NINTH ANNUAL REPORT. 9
In western Europe we find first the chamois (Rupicapra) ,
known in the Spanish Sierras and Pyrenees as the izard, and ex-
tending eastward through the Alps and Carpathians as far as the
Caucasus. Throughout all this range only one species is recog-
nized.
The next genus of this group is the goral (Cemas), with four
species ranging throughout the Himalayas and parts of China,
into Amurland.
In Tibet we have the third and decidedly most aberrant mem-
ber of the Riipicaprlna:, the takin (Budorcas), the horns of which
suggest those of the gnu. Only one species of this genus is
known.
The fourth, and to Americans perhaps the most interesting
Old World member of this Subfamily, is the serow (Namo-
rhedus), locally known as the forest goat. This genus is per-
haps, more closely allied to Oreamnos than any of the preceding
genera, and its horns resemble those of the mountain goat, but
are shorter and thicker. The genus Nccmorhedus inhabits the
Himalayas, Tibet and China with outlying representatives in
Burma, Sumatra, Formosa and Japan and it is divided into
numerous species. The fifth genus is Oreamnos, the subject of
this article.
All the members of these genera resemble the goat in tooth
structure, but differ widely from them in the position and shape
of the horns, face glands and other important details. The
whole group is to be regarded as an early off-shoot of the
Bovida, to some extent intermediate between the goats and the
true bovine antelopes. The Rupicaprince must have pushed
north, with their not distant ally the musk-ox, at a very early
time and become adjusted to alpine and boreal conditions. At
the close of the glacial period many of its members deserted
the low country and retired to high altitudes so that in some
instances, notably that of the chamois, we have an example of
discontinuous distribution. Its sole American representative
probably reached this continent by way of the Bering Sea land
connection, during the middle Pleistocene, together with the
other American genera of the Boznda.
GENERIC CHARACTERS.
Oreamnos as remarked above, while more closely related to
Namorhedus than to the other members of the group, has de-
parted widely in structure from all of its relatives. Its most
NINTH ANNUAL REPORT.
11
HEAD OF THE GOAT SHOWN ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE.
striking character is its almost pure white coat. This coloring
is in perfect harmony with an environment of snow fields, but in
some parts of its range it renders the animal unnecessarily con-
spicuous. Until white men appeared on the scene, it made very
little difference to the goat whether his enemies could see him or
not, as his home was beyond the reach of pumas, wolves, and for
the most part of bears and until other game became scarce, the
Indians did not hunt this inaccessible peak-dweller too closely.
All the types of Oreamnos are characterized by this white coat
and the only exception is the well authenticated occurrence of
goat in the Selkirks of southern British Columbia, with a clearly-
defined dark brown line extending along the center of the back
and terminating in an almost black tail. This color variation
12 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
appears to be fixed in both the summer and winter pelage, as
the markings were found on the skins of goats killed both in
July and November. Reports of goat with these characters are
widespread along the upper Columbia River, so that it would
seem as though toward the southern limit of its range, a color
variation were just beginning to appear. In addition to its uni-
formly white color, Oreamnos differs from the serow in the promi-
nence of its eye sockets, in the elongated shape of the muzzle
and face, in the position and shape of the horns and more par-
ticularly in the cannon bones, which are exceptionally short and
stout. In this latter respect Oreamnos departs widely from all
the other members of the Rupicaprince. The most striking char-
acter however, of Oreamnos, is the presence, situated in a half
circle immediately behind each horn, of a large, black scent-
gland, as large as half an orange. This gland is sometimes so
tough as to wear deeply into the base of the horn. A horn
worn away in this manner was secured by the writer in British
Columbia.
The comparatively short duration of time since the appearance
of Oreamnos in America and the somewhat uniform character
of its habitat, probably account for the absence of much type
variation.
TYPES OF OREAMNOS.
The first specimens of the mountain goat to be described, came
from the Cascade Mountains on the Columbia River in Oregon
and of course now stand as the type of Oreamnos montanus, hav-
ing been first described by Rafinesque in 1817. This subspecies is
intermediate in size between the eastern form of American goat,
O.m.missonlce, and the large Canadian O.m.columbianus, and, is
characterized by a short but broad skull. The true Oreamnos
montanus extends from about the Canadian boundary, south
through Washington into Oregon. In the '70*5 a considerable
number were found on Mt. Ranier in Washington, and they still
occur on Mt. Baker to the northward. It is absent, however,
from the Olympic Mountains, from Vancouver Island and from
the southern Cascades in Oregon. Nothing is known of the
northern limits of this subspecies, but it probably does not extend
very far into British Columbia, merging at that point into O.tn.
columbianus. The most southerly Oregon records that the writer
has been able to obtain is Mt. Jefferson in that State, latitude
44 40' north, in approximately the same latitude as the Sawtooth
Mountains in Idaho.
NINTH ANNUAL REPORT. 13
Probably the only place where the goat exists to-day in the
State of Oregon is the mountains in Wallowa County, in the
extreme northeast corner of the State, and the animals from that
locality are probably to be referred to O.m.tnissoulce. They have
long since vanished from Mt. Hood and from the other peaks in
the western part of the State, where they once abounded. In the
State of Washington they exist in reduced numbers from the
Canadian boundary as far south as Mt. Adams, although at
the latter point they are possibly now extinct. Throughout the
State the frequency of names, such as "goat rocks," "goat paths,"
"goat buttes" and "goat creeks," testify to their early abundance,
and they were formerly shot from the decks of steamers on Lake
Chelan by hunters who took a wanton delight in seeing the
wounded animals fall down the precipitous banks.
In the Mt. Rainier Forest Reserve they are found in small
numbers. In the isolated volcanic peaks along the coast the goat
is too easily reached to be allowed to survive, and it is probable
that before many years the interesting animal will be entirely
exterminated in the United States except in the main Rockies.
The Alaskan form, at the extreme western limit of the genus,
in the neighborhood of the Mt. St. Elias Alps and the Cop-
per River, was described by Dr. D. G. Elliot, in 1900, as a sec-
ond and valid species, under the name of Oreamnos kennedyi.
It is strongly characterized by the lyrate shape of the horns and
certain anatomical features.
These two were the only described forms, until 1904, when
the attention of Dr. J. A. Allen, of the American Museum of
Natural History, was called by the writer to the great difference
in bulk of body and size of horns of the goat of British Colum-
bia, and those of the Bitter Root Mountains in Montana. Upon
comparing a number of specimens from the Cascade Mountains,
the type locality of Oreamnos montanus, from the Bitter Root
Mountains of Montana and Idaho, from the main Rockies in
southern British Columbia and from the Schesley Mountains of
northern British Columbia, it was found that all these specimens
could be divided into three easily distinguishable groups each of
subspecific rank.
The skulls of animals killed in the Schesley Mountains by
Andrew J. Stone in 1903, were found to be in all respects iden-
tical with those killed by the writer and Mr. Charles Arthur
Moore, Jr., in the main Rockies, near the Columbia River the
following year. Animals from these districts were character-
ized by great bulk and by a long and relatively narrow skull.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOAT
KILLED IN SPILI.AMACHENE VALLEY, SOUTH OF GOLDEN, BRITISH COLUMBIA, NOVEMBER. IQO3
Total length with tail, following convolutions of body, 73 inches ; tail, 7 inches ; hind foot, 12 inches
height at shoulders, 41 inches ; measurements taken after mounting. On exhibition in the
American Museum of Natural History.
NINTH ANNUAL REPORT.
15
SIDE VIEW OF SPECIMEN SHOWN ON OPPOSITE PAGE.
This was the third type described and it received from Dr. Allen
the name of O.m.columbianus. This subspecies probably extends
from the American border up through the Canadian Rockies, to
the northern limits of goat in that region, which is west of the
^Mackenzie River at about north latitude 63 30'. The goat in
the northern Rockies, may possibly be found to be specifically dis-
tinct from the goat on the coast of southern Alaska.
In the midst of the distributional area of this large subspecies
and in the vicinity of the Big Bend of the Columbia River, a very
small goat is found. This animal, upon further investigation,
may prove interesting. At present, however, all the Canadian
goats must be provisionally assigned to O.m.columbianus.
A curious break in the range of this subspecies is found just
north of the Liard River, where, according to no less an author-
16 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
ity than Andrew J. Stone, no goat are found for a distance of
over a hundred miles. Probably the local topography, of which
we have no knowledge, will explain the absence of goat from
this territory. No goat have yet been found north of the Yukon
River.
O.m.columbianus abounds along the coast ranges of British
Columbia, and extends into Alaska, probably merging in the
neighborhood of the Copper River into O. kennedyi, the western-
most member of the genus. The extreme western record for
goat is the Matanuska River, not far from the head of Cook
Inlet. Horns from this locality, however, do not show the char-
acteristics of Kennedy's goat. No goat are reported in the vicinity
of Mt. McKinley, but they are found along the Copper River for
a considerable distance inland, and there is some evidence of their
occurrence on the north side of Mt. St. Elias. It may be well
to remark here that while O. kennedyi is a valid species, founded
on abundant material, no living specimens have been seen by a
white man so far as is known, nor have we any information con-
cerning the limits of its distribution. O.m.columbianus is by far
the largest and handsomest member of the genus, unless O. ken-
nedyi proves on further investigation, to excel in these respects.
It is, therefore, surprising that the great differences in size and
other characteristics, which distinguish this type from the goat in
the United States have not been previously recognized.
The animals south of the Canadian border and still in the
main range of the Rockies, upon comparison with the preceding
types, were found to be much smaller, in fact the smallest of all
the subspecies and were characterized by shorter but still rela-
tively narrow skulls. The specimens of this type under consid-
eration having been killed in the Bitter Root Mountains, the sub-
specific name of O.m.missoulcz was given them by Dr. Allen.
This is the fourth and last type to be described, although these
animals from the Bitter Root Mountains were the first goat
known to transcontinental explorers. This is the goat usually
hunted by American sportsmen and its range probably extends
from the southeastern limits of the genus in Montana and Idaho
to the Canadian border, where like O. montanns it passes imper-
ceptibly into O.m.columbianus. The extreme southerly limit of
the goat in the Rockies is the Sawtooth Mountains and the Sal-
mon River in Idaho. It does not reach the Tetons, in Wyoming,
nor does it occur in the Yellowstone Park. The question of its
absence in these localities will be discussed later in this paper.
To sum up, the two American subspecies are smaller than their
WHITE MOUNTAIN GOAT AND MOUNTAIN SHEEP
IN THE NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK.
1
WHITE MOUNTAIN GOAT AND MOUNTAIN SHEEP
IN THE NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK
18 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
Canadian relatives and the type from the Cascade Mountains
possesses a broad skull, in direct contrast to the narrow skulls of
all other goats, both American and Canadian.
CAUSES GOVERNING DISTRIBUTION.
The distribution of the genus is limited by the character of
the mountain ranges, rather than any other consideration, and
too much emphasis cannot be placed on the fact, that of all our
North American animals the white goat is the only one abso-
lutely confined to precipitous peaks and ridges, which even the
mountain sheep seldom approach.
The extreme north and south ranges of Oreamnos in the main
Rockies present several problems of great interest. The south-
ern limit is clearly marked by a change in the formation and
ruggedness of the mountains themselves, which, together with
climatic conditions, and the lack of water in summer on the
mountain tops, are sufficient to account for the absence of these
animals much south of their present limit. A very different
condition prevails in the north. At the extreme northern limit
which is about 63 30', the mountains begin to lose their height
but are still of considerable size and quite rugged enough
to provide a suitable home for Oreamnos. White sheep are
found all through these mountains, up to the very coast of the
Arctic Ocean and westward through the Romanzoff Mountains in
northern Alaska. These sheep are certainly not better equipped
to resist arctic cold than are the goat, so we must seek for some
cause other than climatic or topographical conditions. There
must be some unknown and unfavorable condition of food supply
which prevents Oreamnos from reaching the extreme north. This
is perhaps the most interesting and difficult of the problems affect-
ing the distribution of the genus.
Along the Pacific coast of the United States the mountains are
not sufficiently precipitous to attract the goat, and consequently
that animal is found only at some distance inland, but in north-
western British Columbia and southern Alaska, the Rockies ap-
proach the coast in stupendous chains, which swing westward
through the Mt. St. Elias range. Through all this country the
goat occupies the coast region from Prince William Sound south
nearly to the American border. They are not found in any of
the adjacent islands.
Along these coast ranges goat are much more numerous than
in the main Rockies, owing probably to the presence of forests
SEVEN MOUNTAIN GOAT KIDS
CAPTURED NEAR BANFF, ALBERTA, IQO4, FOR THE NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
20 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
high up in the mountains and in close contact with the cliffs
where the goat lives, together with a copious supply of water.
At all events the conditions are certainly favorable. North of
Skagway goat do not extend inland much beyond the summit of
the coast range, and do not again occur until the main Rockies
are reached, hundreds of miles to the east. The goat in these
eastern mountains are, in all likelihood, specifically distinct from
the coast goat, as practically all the other mammals of these two
distinct faunal areas are separate species.
LEGENDARY DISTRIBUTION.
The writer has carefully traced out the legends regarding the
occurrence of goat in Colorado, Utah, and California. There
are persistent stories about the existence of white goat in Colo-
rado, which, when investigated seem to have their origin in some
domestic goat which are known to have escaped from captivity.
It is, however, a certainty that Oreamnos has not existed in
Colorado since the arrival of the white man, and there is no
proof of its previous existence there. This statement is made
after a full examination of the evidence.
The purpose of this paper has been to gather and summarize the
known facts about this interesting animal and it has been neces-
sary to discard a large amount of data contained in the literature
of the subject. Statements by certain writers regarding the ex-
istence of the goat in Wyoming, Colorado, California, and even
New Mexico, are extremely misleading. It is positively known
that no goat have ever existed on Mt. Shasta, although this
mountain has been a favorite locality for stories about mountain
goat and the mythical ibex. The origin of these fables is easily
traced to the former existence on Mt. Shasta of mountain
sheep, the horns and bones of which are still occasionally found
there. The straight horns of the mountain sheep ewe are proba-
bly responsible for most of these legends. It is bad enough to
suggest the occurrence of goat on Mt. Shasta, but it is utterly
absurd to assert their existence on Mt. Whitney, 300 miles
farther south, and it is still worse to include in the range of the
goat New Mexico or the barren coast mountains of southern
California.*
The above examples will suffice to show the loose manner in
*See "Sport and Life in Western America and British Columbia," by A. W.
Bailli -Grohman, page 117, London, 1900, and "The Wilderness^Hunter," page
130, by Theodore Roosevelt.
22 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
which this subject has been treated by writers who have not
sifted the evidence sufficiently.
Within the United States the mountain goat is only found in
Idaho, western Montana, Washington, and Oregon. There is
no evidence whatever of the white goat having existed in Wyo-
ming. In examining the rumors respecting the occurrence of goat
one must remember that only a few years ago very little was
known about this animal, and few people had seen it. In the
south, escaped domestic goat and old mountain sheep ewes with
bleached coats and straight horns, have probably been the basis
of many such stories. In some places such animals have been
mistaken for white goat and elsewhere, notably in Alaska, for
the legendary ibex. Until the discovery and description of Ball's
white sheep, in 1884, all white animals in the north were called
goat and white mountain sheep meat is sold to-day in Dawson
City restaurants under that name.
There is no reason whatever to believe that the limits of the
distribution of the white goat were ever much different from
what they are now, except in outlying localities along their south-
ern limits. The center of the greatest abundance of goat appears
to be in the coast ranges in British Columbia and southern
Alaska and it is here that they are found low down the moun-
tain sides and often close to salt water.
COMPARISON WITH SHEEP.
It is due to ignorance of the character of the country inhab-
ited by mountain goat that so much has been written about an
alleged antipathy between Oreamnos and the mountain sheep. It
is singular that writers should go so far afield as to conjure up
an imaginary mutual hatred to account for the undoubted fact
that sheep and goat seldom live together. In some places, how-
ever, notably the Schesley Mountains, sheep and goat can be
found on the same mountain side. Sheep belong to the rugged
hills and lower slopes and at one time ranged far eastward into
the plains wherever the character of the country was at all rough,
as in the Black Hills and in the Bad Lands of the upper Missouri.
The sheep is furthermore, a grass-eating animal, while the
goat is a browser, finding his food mainly on the buds and twigs
of the forests that grow to the very foot of the goat rocks. All
through the goat country occur patches of forest and it is there
that the goat is found, between timber-line and the snow fields.
So far as we know the only grazing done by the goat, beyond
24 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
nibbling at small plants, is on the slides when the grass first
appears and it is probable that to this habit the greatest mortal-
ity of this animal is due, as many are killed each spring by the
avalanches on these snow slides.
The sheep is an active, wary and fleet-footed animal, fully as
well equipped as the deer to escape by agility from its enemies
and is not dependent for safety on a refuge beyond the reach of
other animals. The goat on the other hand, is heavy, powerful,
clumsy, slow moving and somewhat stupid and does not dare to
venture very far from its inaccessible rocks. It thrives among
precipitous cliffs, which are everywhere known among hunters
as "goat rocks" and are recognizable as such at a glance.
LOCAL DISTRIBUTION.
In a mountainous country it is perfectly easy to say where goat
are to be found, if there are any in the neighborhood. They de-
scend, of course, into the upper limits of the forests, but always
keep near to cliffs to which they can retire when attacked. Some-
times swim rivers and have been killed while crossing the Stickene
far into the forests. Salt-licks have been found in the hillsides,
where great holes have been eaten out by these animals. The
trails which lead to some of the licks in British Columbia are
worn so deeply as to resemble buffalo trails. Goat pass through
the forests and lower slopes of the mountains in moving from one
locality to another, but this of course, is exceptional. They some-
times swim rivers and have been killed while crossing the Stickine
River in British Columbia, a wide and rapid stream.
So complete is the protection the goat finds in broken rocks
and precipices, that they are practically out of danger from any
animal approaching from below, except bear, which frequently
lie in wait for them and occasionally capture an unwary indi-
vidual. The eagles take a very heavy toll from the young goat
in the spring.
The difficulty of reaching the mountain tops is, of course, a
protection against man, but the conspicuous color and the slow
movements of the animal make it a comparatively easy victim
when once reached by hard climbing.
WATER SUPPLY.
The question of water supply on the mountains inhabited by
goat has a most important bearing on the distribution of the ani-
mal. In a large portion of the southern range of the goat, little
NINTH ANNUAL REPORT. 25
or no water is found from August to October, except what is
furnished by such snow fields as persist throughout the year. All
other animals can, during the dry season, venture down to the
valleys and canons for water, but the goat seldom leaves the rocks,
even for water, relying on the snow of the mountain tops.
This fact alone, I believe, is sufficient to account for the absence
of the goat, so often commented on by hunters, in many portions
of its range, where other conditions appear to be entirely suitable.
In southern British Columbia the great river valleys, such as
those of the Kootenay, the Columbia and the Beaver, run almost
north and south, and prevent communication from east to west
between the goat inhabiting the adjacent mountains, while these
same valleys offer no difficulties to the crossing of sheep and
other large animals. Farther north in the Stickine country wide
valleys are sometimes crossed.
The presence or absence of water on the higher ridges, taken
together with the fact that the goat is not a very restless* or
migratory animal, accounts for many of the anomalies that are
observed in its distribution. It is probable that in the course of
its life the goat ranges over a smaller territory than any other
of our game animals and unless seriously disturbed does not
venture far from its native haunts as long as the food supply
lasts. They can usually be found day after day on the same
spot and goat have been watched, through glasses, which ap-
parently scarcely moved for days at a time. Of course, in such
a spot, food and water must be plentiful, and no danger threat-
ening.
Along the Columbia River goat have been sometimes observed
to get into positions on the face of the cliffs, from which they
apparently could not escape. In spite of their great strength
and climbing ability, their home must be an exceptionally dan-
gerous one and it is probable that many lose their lives through
accidents.
In British Columbia, during the early summer, the streams
from the melting snow on the mountain tops are found in every
draw and gulch. During this season small bands of females and
kids, or solitary males, are scattered everywhere in favorable
localities, from the upper timber to the summits of the moun-
tains. As the season advances however and the snow-fed streams
dry up, the only water available is found in the larger basins
where the snow has accumulated in large quantities. These
basins become the feeding ground of the goat and the rest of
the mountain side is deserted, except for an occasional individual
FRONT VIEW OF MOUNTED HEAD OF GOAT SHOWN ON PAGE
PROPERTY OF MADISON GRANT.
On exhibition in the American Museum of Natural History
NINTH ANNUAL REPORT.
27
SIDE VIEW OF HEAD SHOWN ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE.
traveling along the summit from one such feeding ground to
another, or during the autumn rutting season, when both sexes
are almost constantly on the move. Connecting two favorite
feeding grounds in the Palliser Rockies was found, in 1903, a
28 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
well beaten path along the summit-ridge, passing close to the
snow fields and showing constant usage.
WINTER RANGES.
In winter the goat suffers from the severity of the storms on
the mountain tops and the limit of its increase is, in the long run,
dependent on the food supply available during this season. This
is also true of most of our large animals and the elimination of
the weak takes place during the terrible blizzards of winter and
early spring.
In much of the southern range of the goat the use of the
larger valleys for farming has undoubtedly interfered seriously
with their lower feeding grounds. While the loss of these winter
ranges is more serious for other game, even the goat feels the
approach of civilization. The high valleys, however, still remain
untouched and a certain number of hardy individuals will winter
successfully in close proximity to settlements if not too much
hunted. This is notably the case in the Bitter Root Valley, where
goat are often found within sight of the town of Hamilton,
Montana.
In winter the question of water supply is, of course, eliminated
and at this season many ranges are well stocked with goat which,
in summer, are deserted on account of lack of water. The goat
travels so slowly that, aside from the danger of venturing far
from the rocks, long daily journeys to and from a feeding ground
are quite impossible.
As to food supply, we are apt to think of the mountain tops
as barren in comparison with the valleys ; but in a very mountain-
ous region, such as British Columbia, the reverse is often true.
On the higher mountain slopes and ridges are to be found the
best pasturage and the most sunny resting places. The valleys
receive the sun for a much shorter portion of the day than do the
higher ridges and while the mountain tops are above the fogs,
mists and clouds often darken the low country. It is noticeable
that domestic cattle, sheep and horses in a mountainous country,
are very partial to the high lands, seldom remaining voluntarily
in the valleys and river bottoms. In such a country the first im-
pulse of a grazing animal is to climb high. Anyone who has
tried to hunt horses which have strayed from camp, is apt to
be familiar with this habit.
It is the inaccessible character of the country inhabited by the
goat and not his wariness or agility, which has made goat hunt-
NINTH ANNUAL REPORT. 29
ing a test of sportsmanship. Only those sound of wind and limb
can venture after Orearnnos. The first rule in goat hunting is
to go to the highest point that can be found and this point is
apt to be very high.
HABITS.
The sight of a man does not seriously disturb a goat and it
seems to be of indifferent power of vision. Sounds affect it even
less. The constant falling of rocks and stones and the rumble
and breaking up of the glaciers, close to which it finds its home,
has led the goat to distrust the warning of its ears. Shouting at
a goat only arouses a slight curiosity and the report of a rifle
has scarcely more effect. The hunter may sometimes stand for
an hour in plain view of a goat without disturbing it, but its
sense of smell is highly developed and the slightest trace of human
scent will alarm it.
These characters, together with confidence in the inaccessible
nature of its habitat, born of long experience with animals other
than man, have all combined to give the goat its reputation
for stupidity. It probably is stupid, but less so than would
appear to those accustomed to the nervousness of other game ani-
mals. The goat, like the skunk, has a serene reliance in its
ability to protect itself and is accustomed to gaze with indiffer-
ence at enemies who threaten it from below. The large males
are not lacking in bravery and will savagely fight off a dog when
attacked. Stories are told of wounded goat attacking man when
cornered, but most of the danger to the hunter lies in missing a
foothold, or in the stones rolled down from above by a fleeing
animal.
Goat are marvelously tough and can carry more lead even
than a grizzly. It sometimes seems almost impossible to kill
them and in some cases when hopelessly wounded, they show a
tendency to throw themselves from a cliff. That this is a deliber-
ate act on their part is generally believed by goat hunters, but it
is doubtful whether it is more than a last desperate effort to get
out of harm's way.
Goat, like moose, are inclined to be solitary, but are often
found in small family groups. They occasionally assemble in
larger numbers in some favorite feeding ground, as many as
twenty-seven having been seen together.
SKULL OF GOAT
KILLED BY MADISON GRANT, SEPTEMBER, 1903,
Main Rocky Mountains, east side of Columbia River, south of Golden, British Columbia. Measure,
ments in inches : Right horn, loj inches ; left, lofg inches ; spread of horns, 4! inches.
These measurements are the largest on record, with a known history. Same
specimen as on pages 26 and 27.
SIDE VTEW OF SKULL SHOWN ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE-
32 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
WEIGHT AND SIZE.
The strength of the goat is enormous and while its weight is
far greater than one would at first suppose, it is a matter about
which we have little definite information. An average specimen
from the Cascade Mountains appears to weigh about 150 pounds.
A six-year-old goat killed near Skagway, Alaska, showed an
actual weight of 329 pounds. A much smaller animal killed at
the same time and probably a female, weighed 250 pounds.
Large goat from the main Rockies, in British Columbia and
Schesley Mountains, have been estimated to weigh as high as
350 and 400 pounds. Mr. Baillie-Grohman publishes an account
of a full grown male goat captured near Deerlodge, Montana,
which was weighed after its capture and " was found to turn the
scales at 480 pounds ! " This, however, must be an error.
The size of the goat is emphasized by the long and shaggy
coat, which at the shoulders rises in a hump. This, taken in
connection with the low-carried head, gives the animal the ap-
pearance of a pigmy bison. Careful measurements of goat are
hard to obtain, but authentic figures which were taken by Mr.
Stone, of four goat killed in August, 1902, in the Schesley Moun-
tains, British Columbia, are to be found at the end of this article.
HORNS.*
The horns of the female are slightly longer and much more
slender than those of the male. A little over eleven inches ap-
pears to be the extreme limit of horns for the male. The long-
est horns known are from British Columbia, attaining a length
of something over ten inches up to an extreme measurement of
eleven and one-half, which appears to be the record. The horns
from the Bitter Root Mountains average at least an inch shorter,
as do those from the coast ranges in the United States. Any
horn measuring over nine inches is to be considered of good size
and anything over ten inches is very exceptional. All measure-
ments of horns and antlers are subject to considerable variation,
owing to the material of the tape and zeal of the man holding it
and this must be taken into consideration in the measurements
of record horns. In the measurement of the basal girth of sheep
horns a variation of as much as an inch has been found to occur
in the recorded size of the same horn taken by different persons,
all quite conscientious in their efforts to be accurate.
* Measurements of horns are given at the end of this paper.
NINTH ANNUAL REPORT. 33
PROTECTION.
The mountain goat has probably a better chance of survival in a
wild state than any other American game animal, except possibly
the Virginia deer. It is protected even from man by the extreme
ruggedness of its mountain habitat and although it will prob-
ably be exterminated in certain localities, if given a moderate
amount of protection it can hold its own throughout most of its
range. Its history will probably be like that of the chamois in
Europe, as the country grows more populated.
In some localities it is in great need of protection. In southern
British Columbia, the Indians, who are not amenable to the laws
governing the white man, but are protected by treaty rights
secured by the Dominion government, kill right and left with
impunity. In Canada, even more than in the United States,
solicitude for the noble red man works great injury to all our
game animals. In the early days, from motives of self-interest,
the Indian may have been moderate in his killing, but, having
abandoned his archaic weapons in favor of modern fire-arms, he
is now an unmitigated butcher.
The Kootenays on the upper Columbia and the Stoneys on the
east face of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, are game mur-
derers and it is the boast of the latter that no game can live
where they hunt. In the interest of game protection in British
Columbia, it is greatly to be regretted that the enforcement of
stringent laws cannot be extended to the Indians. Curiously
enough, many persons, who would ordinarily be friendly to game
protection, have become so interested in the natives, that they
advocate hunting privileges for Indians which they deny to the
white man, under the mistaken impression that the Indian kills
only what he needs. The strange delusion has recently led to
an attempt by a benevolent United States Senator to repeal the
game law r s for Alaska and leave that great game region to the
mercv of the native and meat hunter.
SALE OF GAME HEADS.
The hunting of the Stoney Indians has been somewhat discour-
aged by a wise law recently enacted in the Northwest Provinces,
prohibiting the sale of game heads. This law is especially bene-
ficial to sheep, since the demand for heads of large rams has been
steadily increasing. Oreamnos has not suffered greatly from
head hunting, as its horns do not offer much of a trophy except
34 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
when needed to complete a collection of American game animals.
The marketing of game heads cannot be too strongly condemned
by genuine hunters and by those interested in the protection of
wild animal life.
INTRODUCTION OF FOREIGN ANIMALS.
In this connection a word should be said about a proposition
to establish chamois in the Rocky Mountains. Efforts to intro-
duce European game, instead of protecting the native Ameri-
can animals, are constantly cropping out. Why anyone should
prefer a chamois to the far finer native animal is somewhat of a
mystery. Nature has provided for every portion of our country,
mammals, birds and fish well adapted to the needs of the locality,
and the introduction of . foreign animals simply means, in case
they survive, the crowding out of some native form.
In the East the mountain goat never can be more than an object
of temporary curiosity, as he cannot long survive the rigors of
our Atlantic summer. A number of .young goat have been cap-
tured in British Columbia for exhibition in the New York Zoo-
logical Park, but while very docile, and taking readily to the
milk of domestic ewes, they all died before shipment except the
four now on exhibition at the Park. The proper place for the
exhibition and breeding of mountain goat is in the Canadian
National Park at Banff, Alberta, where there is an unsurpassed
opportunity to secure and breed not only goat, but also mountain
sheep, bison and even moose in their native environment.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .
The writer desires to acknowledge his indebtedness for as-
sistance in the preparation of the above article to Mr. Charles
Arthur Moore, Jr., to Mr. Andrew J. Stone, to Dr. J. A. Allen,
to Mr. Charles H. Townsend, to Mr. Wilfrid H. Osgood, and to
members of the Geological Survey, notably Mr. A. H. Sylvester.
NINTH ANNUAL REPORT. 35
MEASUREMENTS.
Four goat killed in the Schesley Mountains of British Colum-
bia, in August, 1902, and measured with extreme accuracy, ran as
foll WS: No. 43- No. 44- No. 57. No. 60.
inches inches inches inches
Total length, end of nose to end
of tail vertebra 61 65 57 66
Tail vertebra 7 8 6
Tarsus 13^ 14 13
Height at shoulder 4-Q/4 39 36 43
No. 57 was about a half-grown animal.
No, 60 was the largest specimen and its estimated weight was
over 400 pounds.
Detail measurements in millimeters of No.. 6p * are as follows :
End of nose to lower corner of right eye 220
End of nose to base of ear 297
End of nose to base of right horn 265
Width of head just over eyes 147
Width of nose above nostril 65
Width of nostril. : 81
Greatest depth of head 193
Depth of nose 156
Depth of chin 119
Between the . eyes no
Circumference of horn at base 153
Length of horn 260
Width between point of horns 210
Length of ear 150
Width of ear 65
Length of beard no
Length of front foot 83
Width of front foot 72
Extreme width of clew claws outside 80
Length of front of front hoof 52
Hind foot, length 71
Hind foot, width 72
Length of dew claw 52
Width of dew claws 34
* No. 60 is goat shown on page 10.
36 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
MEASUREMENTS OF MOUNTAIN GOAT HORNS IN INCHES.
Four large specimens in the United States National Museum,
Washington, D. C, selected and measured by Madison Grant on
February 4, 1905, gave the following dimensions :
Right. Left.
6* 10 9^ Lake Chelan, Washington.
2 8^ 8j
$ 8^6 8% Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho.
Fifteen specimens in the American Museum of Natural His-
tory, New York City, were measured by Dr. J. A. Allen, with the
following result:
Right. Left. Spread.
J 575 2 - 1% 1% 4^ O. m.missoulcz, Missoula, Montana.
22694 $ 9 91/16 4^ " "
22695 * 9*4 % s /8 4^ " "
19335 <? 9
19337 2 9 I3 /i6 9 3 A 4j/s " "
19836 o"jnr.y3/ l6 8^ 6^ " " columbianus, Schesley Mts., B. C.
19837 $ g/s " " " "
19838 $ 97/3 10 S/s " "
19839 <? 9/8 &J/8 5 " " ^ " " " "
19858 2 8^ 8^ 5^ " " " " "
21504 2 9^i 9 4^ " " " Main Rockies, " "
2I 55 2 9jA 9jA 5 '' u
21506 7^ 7^ 4^ " "
Mt.
*Head<? 10^ io3/ l6 4^ " ' ;
fMt. <? 9^ 9^8 6% " "
* Head shown on page 26, property of Madison Grant,
f Property of Charles Arthur Moore, Jr.
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