Identifier: americannaturalh02hornuoft (find matches)
Title: The American natural history : a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America
Year: 1914 (1910s)
Authors: Hornaday, William Temple, 1854-1937
Subjects: Natural history -- North America
Publisher: New York : C. Scribner's sons
Contributing Library: Gerstein - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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rock. INIentally this animal has the steadiestnerves, the most indomitable courage and the greatest cool-ness in the face of danger that I am aware of in any hoofedand horned animal. We have seen Goats cross walls of rock which neither man,dog nor mountain sheep would dare attempt to pass. Wehave seen a goat cross the face of a precipice of apparentlysmooth rock, to all appearances entirely devoid of ledges orshelves of any kind, and so nearly perpendicular that itseemed an impossibility for any creature with hoofs to main-tain a footing ui)on it. And yet, the goat not only passedsafely across, but did it with perfect composure, frequentlylooking back, and turning around whenever he saw fit todo so. In general outline this animal has the form of a pygmyAmerican bison, and were its pelage dark brown instead ofl)ure white, the external resemblance would indeed be strik-ing. It has high shoulders, low hind quarters, stocky legs,a thick-set body and shaggy pelage. Its head is carried low.
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48 HOOFED ANIMALS the crown seldom rising above the upper hne of the shouldersand back, and the face is too long for beauty. The hornsare so small, short and severely plain that they are neitherbeautiful nor imposing. The weight of this animal is about that of the Virginiadeer. The shoulder height of a good average-size male is39 inches, length of head and body 61 inches, tail 4 inches,girth 53 inches and weight 276 pounds. The females averageabout one-fourth smaller. Except in length and color ofpelage the Mountain Goat is clad after the style of the musk-ox. Next to the skin it wears a dense coat of fine wool,through and far beyond which grows a long, outside thatchof coarse hair. When free from dirt both these coats areclear white and contain no patches of color. Behind eachhorn is a peculiar bare patch of black, oily skin, the size of ahalf-dollar. The horns are small, smooth, very sharp-pointedand jet black; and the longest on record measure 11)^ inches.The cannon bone is proport

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