Page:Babyhood of Wild Beasts.djvu/165

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CHAPTER XIV

baby rocky mountain goats^[1]

I THINK the Rocky Mountain goat is one of the most interesting animals on the North American Continent. In appearance he is extraordinary; in colour pure white; in mind a philosopher, and in habit an acrobat.

One, and sometimes two, baby goats are born at a time. At a very tender age he follows his mother up beyond the timberline into the rocky

↑ When I was four years old we lived in an old cabin in a long abandoned mining camp in the Sierra Nevadas of Northern California. Prior to our moving into it, the old cabin had been for years a shelter for wild animals. One stormy night, a few days after we took possession, the latch string was violently jerked, and a huge Rocky Mountain Goat entered with a dignified air of ownership. He was stupefied when he discovered that his old shelter was occupied, and as soon as he could collect his wits he fled madly up the mountainside. He was frightened and so was I; but we had aroused each other's curiosity, and the next day I began trailing the goats. The incidents related are of my experiences with them.

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[1] When I was four years old we lived in an old cabin in a long abandoned mining camp in the Sierra Nevadas of Northern California. Prior to our moving into it, the old cabin had been for years a shelter for wild animals. One stormy night, a few days after we took possession, the latch string was violently jerked, and a huge Rocky Mountain Goat entered with a dignified air of ownership. He was stupefied when he discovered that his old shelter was occupied, and as soon as he could collect his wits he fled madly up the mountainside. He was frightened and so was I; but we had aroused each other's curiosity, and the next day I began trailing the goats. The incidents related are of my experiences with them.

[1]