Chapter 2

SIDE VIEW OF SKULL SHOWN ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE.

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 appearance 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 Mountains, British Columbia, are to be found at the end of this article.

HORNS.[B]

[B]Measurements of horns are given at the end of this paper.

The horns of the female are slightly longer and much more slender than those of the male. A little over eleven inches appears to be the extreme limit of horns for the male. The longest 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 measurements 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.

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 probably 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 murderers 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 laws for Alaska and leave that great game region to the mercy of the native and meat hunter.

SALE OF GAME HEADS.

The hunting of the Stoney Indians has been somewhat discouraged by a wise law recently enacted in the Northwest Provinces, prohibiting the sale of game heads. This law is especially beneficial to sheep, since the demand for heads of large rams has been steadily increasing.Oreamnoshas not suffered greatly from head hunting, as its horns do not offer much of a trophy exceptwhen 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 introduce European game, instead of protecting the native American 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 captured in British Columbia for exhibition in the New York Zoological 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 assistance 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.

MEASUREMENTS.

Four goat killed in the Schesley Mountains of British Columbia, in August, 1902, and measured with extreme accuracy, ran as follows:

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. 60[C]are as follows:

[C]No. 60 is goat shown onpage 10.

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:

Fifteen specimens in the American Museum of Natural History, New York City, were measured by Dr. J. A. Allen, with the following result:

[D]Head shown on26, property of Madison Grant.

[E]Property of Charles Arthur Moore, Jr.

Transcriber NotesAll occurrences ofO.m.columbianuswere changed toO. m. columbianus.Illustrations were moved so as not to split paragraphs.Onp. 13, “as” was added in “... to be referred toasO. m. missoulæ.”

Transcriber Notes

All occurrences ofO.m.columbianuswere changed toO. m. columbianus.

Illustrations were moved so as not to split paragraphs.

Onp. 13, “as” was added in “... to be referred toasO. m. missoulæ.”

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