Show 4 13 C AI arz 11 throughout the ex cold and blizzard smitten arctic night the common only to arctic america is the sole representative of its genus this curious beast more closely re dembling sem bling in many respects the sheep than the ox Is the typical animal of the frozen regions th that at it inhabits its range extends as far south as latitude 60 degrees and as tar far west as the mackenzie river it abounds on the east an and d west coasts of greenland and on almost all the islands of 0 the arctic archipelago the finding at different points of fossilized remains of the proves that many centuries ago the range of this animal was much vaster than it is at the present day it Is indeed interesting to know that this same or an animal differing only slightly from it inhabited country as far south as kansas and kentucky although at that time the climate of america as undoubtedly much colder it Is now science regards this as an extinct species fossilized bones of the have also been found about the obi river in siberia and at many other points in asia and in europe the great zoological authority dydek ker calls our attention to the curious way in which the became extinct in the eastern hemisphere and yet flourished in the western whilst the other cold lover the reindeer still survives in both although the appears to be consider ably larger than it really Is on account of the abundance of 04 its coat yet it may be roughly reck reek boned at about two thirds the size of the amer A jv JR lean ison the coat of the is dark urn um bahk color and in places even black but that of the leg and saddle however Is so much lighter as to appear in contrast with the rest of its fur as almost buff the hair of the mane and back Is decidedly woolly but the rest of its coat falls in thick folds of hair sometimes almost completely obscuring its legs and reaching to the ground so heavy Is this coat that the ears and tail tall aad and often the base of the horns are corn com plemely hidden by it beneath this hairlike coat Is one of wool somewhat of a light chocolate color the greater development of the tore fore particularly in the bull Is so marked that when one of these fully grown beasts advances towards the hunter it may readily be mistaken tor for two animals walking in close proximity the Is quite short limbed massive and stubby in build and in the cpr ng the grotesqueness of its appearance is more greatly enhanced by the masses of wool that cling to the hair and which it Is at that time shedding one of the characteristic features of this ani ant mal Is the development of its horns in the ma aured animal these are joined to the skull on top and find almost at the rear they are wide and peculiarly rough at the base the uneven rough ness gradually forming regular uniform ridges where the horns curve in towards the skull finally assuming an almost polished smoothness as they taper to a point and turn upward if a line were drawn from the point of one horn to that of the other it would be found to pass just before the eyes the horns are generally about 25 inches in length but there are many cases where they have measured as much as 27 those of the bull are much more heavy and massive than those of the cow and are almost joined at the base the horns are a yellowish white in color with the exception of the tips which are black the hoots hoofs of the are quite small when compared with those of the caribou rela lively considering the weights of the animals they are admirably adapted to assist the animal in crossing icy surfaces having a considerable growth of hair between the hoofs which edly has the same function as that on the under part of the paw of the polar bear bead during the long arctic winter the roams at large over the snow covered barren wastes that it inhabits frequenting those parts where it can best obtain the few lichens and scanty mosses that form its sustenance and which it recovers by removing the great depth of snow with its hoofs at this time of the beir the musk axen assemble in herds much that they might huddle together for protection during the great blizzards and better to repel the attacks of the then almost starving arctic wolves their sole enemy from which by this and other tactics they are able to ward off the attacks of wild beasts As was as the case with the amer lean bison and the buffalo wolf the young and inexperienced the aged outcast and the diseased however tall fall an easy prey to the hungry lurkers the runs swiftly but can maintain a gallop for b it a short time when turning about it faces its pursuer forming into a long line it if attacked fron from but one point and into a circle if from several with glaring eyes and pawing hoots hoofs it awaits the approach of ohp intruder when apparently having sufficiently recuperated from the exertion it again gallops off only to make another stand farther on but an ordinary man can soon exhaust them by putting them to flight however the does not always fly at the approach of man and in mute stupidity a whole hole herd will stand in line and allow themselves to be shot down by a single hunter who will have no difficulty in securing curing ee iaz 15 77 ac 12 p 1 41 e ir 41 V P s 4 tea e 1 V 4 r 5 li 1 I tl 19 AP ajr 1 ills 40 S 4 1 7 AN 0 4 IN R 6 every 0 one n e 0 of f t them h e in provided he keeps low and kills outright e each a e h animal he re 1 shoots the bunters Tun hunter scenting bably puts them to flight hut but it if you prevent them from doing this you can approach them without difficulty when alarmed they resort to the nearest eleva tion on which to stand at bay and so closely do they huddle together on these occasions that they may be seen tread ing upon one another a feet in ascend ing and descending steep slopes the shows its likeness to the sheep toy by the agility and the speed with which 1 it traverses these the vitality of the Is considerable and it is only a very well placed single bullet of large caliber that will bring down an adult beast the has a slightly musky smell which aich is sometimes said to be so prevalent in the flesh as to render it decidedly objectionable this musky taint Is en eliminated by dressing the animal as soon as it has been killed for any carcass if not so treated will assume an objectionable flavor which is caused chiefly by the presence of gases in the stomach which should have been removed personally I 1 always managed to do justice to flesh which I 1 consider in flavor and ten berness far superior to beet beef the call of the young calf to its mother is much like that of the young domesticated calf but it is decad edly more pleasing in tone the bellow of the adult Is of much shorter duration than that of the domesticated cow and Is seldom uttered by th k animal like all other wild mothers the mother is a devout mother and ewhen ewhen a herd stands at bay you may look in vain to find a calf for they have been huddled from sight in the long hanging fur of the ones that will stand to the last to protect them IF towards the coming of summer the large herds generally break up and the bulls in lar jar wander singly along the sea coast relishing the luxury and abundance of the short season which so soon and so abruptly shall come to an end their maneuvers are slow and their ways docile during this season in particular by graz ing during the day and traveling principally in the evening they slowly continue their uncertain wondering of no destination it has been my ray good and rare fortune to have helped to capture alive a young it was in the month of may that when hunting tor for these animals I 1 happened to wound a cow in a herd we were chasing she left the others but soon came to a standstill when with my companion I 1 came up to her and was surprised to find that a little calf was standing by her side I 1 felt sorry for the poor beast that had so successfully hidden and protected its offspring and for the obedient little calf itself that had so faithfully followed its mother after dispatching des patching the mother I 1 ex pecked that we would have no little trouble in capturing the calf but to our surprise the strick en little beast stood still and allowed us to come right up to it buti but when we picked it from the ground it struggled so violently that we could hardly hold it my companion took upon himself the task of carrying our capture and it was really smi amusing tsIng to observe how when joe least expected the calf without warning would summon all its strength of limb and tongue in an effort to free itself almost bringing him to the ground by the time we had arrived at the ship the sun was no longer a Inid midnight nIght sun for it was seven in the morning A number of our friends came out to meet lis us one of them relieving joe of his bur den which he gave up with little reluctance after having a bite and a cup of caff coffee ee I 1 soon found aj tor for I 1 was well exhausted the hunt having lasted more than twelve hours much of which time we were running through deep snow some hours later I 1 awoke to find that the little had been christened melville after that vast island which only a few hours ago was wag her home from that time on melville was our little mascot she was fed with condensed milk out of the ships ration too with crackers or oatmeal she rejected all the improvised alpar atus that I 1 cont thed to facilitate feeding her preferring an ordinary dish as a receptacle tor for her food none of us forgot to reserve for me met ville any choice morsel that we thought she j might relish I 1 remember one day one of the sailors took from its cage his pet snowy owl to allow it some freedom he had no sooner laid it on the deck than a pattering of tiny hoofs was heard and lit tie tle melville bore down upon the bird which sat in mute stupidity watching the on rusher until its tat feathery form went sprawling and floun dering along the deck with lovi lowered ered head ville stopped to view the vanquished from the spot where it had been the bird only being res cued to evade another unruh in many such ways melville furnished us with barek amusement which was more than welcome to us but her bad habit of going about the deck and eat cat ing scraps of canvas paper oakum or almost anything was the cause of our losing her for one day she discovered some red paint which must have pleased her taste as we e found her little nose covered with the same game three days later poor little melville passed away and the extent to which we missed her can hardly be ex pressed in words it was much as though one of the ship s company had left us for this was truly what had happened copyright by outdoor life |