| Show fm TOED G OA as TWO DISTINCT GROUPS OF ANI MALS ON CATALINA ISLAND origin of herd Is a mystery matery first family believed by some to have been brought by spanish soldiers soldier avalon catalina Cata llna island cal two remarkable discoveries have been made recently regarding the wild gorts of catalina Cata llna ose opie Is that there are in reality two great families of goate ori on the island and the other la its that the goats ot of the interior catalina Cata llna have ave three toes instead of the two common to all the goats known to in other lands aside from this the origin of the animals has been determined dit with reasonable accuracy theories differ in accounting for the mysterious origin of the mild goats the most widely accepted explanation however Is that they mere brought to the island by the early spanish navi favl gators driven by the western gales their clumsy galleons gal leons were often foicey to seek refuge here and the goats were intended for a food supply la in these times of stress father sebastian anselmo anselino a fran aiscan pi infest lest on the occasion of his ha visit here in 1628 records record a native feast east at which wild goat was waa served this was wag roasted whole and seems to have been a favorite delicacy of the aborigines the bones bonea were also fashioned into flutes dag gors gers forks etc many specimens of this wot k have been found in the burl burled d mounds of the island from this birt tf many believe that goats may have existed here at a period antedating that of the spanish explorers this fad fact would account for the eral distinct species now found on the island A recent classification divides them into two main groups the roost most corn coin mon the capa montes closely resemble the mountain goat of northern spain it Is slightly baiger than the ordinary sheep the legs being longer and more slender A shaggy coat of coarse black and white hite hair falls al most to the ground surmounted by bonx ion slightly spiral horns with a spread in some specimens of three feet the other and much scarcer to Is in some ways very like our rocky goat having the same long white hair and small black blach pointed encso the horns are large and quite flot tilting sharply backward from the head bead attaining a length of 28 to 32 inches this variety la Is usually found only in the more inaccessible portions of the island interbreeding Inter breeding with the island sheep has produced several sit singular lg ular types the roost most interesting being a breed called antelope goat in shape it is very like the indian antelope its long slender blender legs lega and dun color deceiving even experienced hunters A feature peculiar to all varieties and one that places the catalina Cata llna goat la in a unique class to la its third toe this is placed just back of the usual two forming a triangular hoot hoof probably this was acquired as aa an extra aid to overcome the difficulties due to the crumbling formation of the mountains and cliffs of the interior goats of other lands have only two toes |
