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 mountainous 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 impulse 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 hunting a test of sportsmanship. Only those sound of wind and limb can venture after Oreamnos. 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 animals. The goat, like the skunk, has a serene reliance in its ability to protect itself and is accustomed to gaze with indifference 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 deliberate 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.