File:Musk-ox, bison, sheep, and goat (1904) (14591965370).jpg

Identifier: muskoxbisonsheep01whit (find matches)
Title: Musk-ox, bison, sheep, and goat
Year: 1904 (1900s)
Authors: Whitney, Caspar, 1862-1929 Grinnell, George Bird, 1849-1938 Wister, Owen, 1860-1938
Subjects: Hunting Muskox American bison Mountain sheep Mountain goat
Publisher: New York, London, Macmillan
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

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1°, in 1771, but I havenever heard of musk-oxen being killed withinrecent years so far south as the 62d parallel. Itis conceivable, however, that they might stray sofar south, though in my opinion highly improbable.Pike records a musk-ox killed at Aylmer Lake, inthe Barren Grounds. This is the most southerlykilling that I have heard of, and the most south-erly one of which Mr. Pike makes record. AylmerLake is just above the 64th parallel. I saw nomusk-oxen below the 65th degree, and it was myexperience, as well as Pikes, that musk-oxen arenot what you may, comparatively speaking, callplentiful until the 66th parallel. Some writers persist in calling the musk-oxmigratory, but there is no reason for doing so.When fully grown, it is about the size of theEnglish black cattle, its height being 4 feet 2to 4 inches at the shoulder, and its girth verylarge for its height. Indians estimate the flesh ofa mature cow musk-ox equal to that of about threeBarren Grounds caribou, which would be from
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The Musk-ox 97 three hundred to three hundred and fifty pounds;the bull may go as much as two hundred poundsheavier. They travel in herds varying from halfa dozen to thirty or forty. Some authors havereferred to vast herds, no doubt confusingmusk-oxen with caribou. Fifty would be a largeherd, and I suppose from ten to twenty wouldfairly represent the size of the average herd. Asa rule, such a sized herd would have one or twobulls. I found herds that were all bulls, othersthat were all cows. The robe is of a very dark brown, which seemsblack against the snow, and the hair all overthe body is coarse and long, reaching downbelow the belly to the knees (especially longon the rump, where I measured some that wasfifteen to twenty inches), and under the throatit hangs down as a thick mane. There appearsto be a decided tendency to a hump, which isemphasized by the shorter stiifish hair thatcovers shoulders and the base of the neck.And there is a saddle mark of a dirty grayishwhite. Underneath

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