Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 234, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 September 1912 — MOUNTAIN SHEEP OF SONORA DESERT [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MOUNTAIN SHEEP OF SONORA DESERT

NO big-game-hunter will deny* I think, the difficulties that attend the shooting of mountain sheep. To the so-called sportsman who gauges his, success by the number of heads secured, irrespective of their value, it cannot, of course, appeal; but to the hunter-naturalist, who can enjoy and appreciate the wild and imposing country in which his quarry lives, and finds his greatest pleasure in pitting his own skin and cunning against those of a worthy foe, this form of shooting yields a most exciting, if arduous, sport. But today the number of mountain sheep is fast diminishing, and it is exceedingly difficult in America to find and obtain a good, or even moderate, head without an extraordinary amount of traveling and hunting —even then success is not assuredwhile the short open season for sheep presents an added obstacle. Nor is such a trip by any means inexpensive, for American guides have a way of charging for their services which is altogether out of proportion of their value. z

Mountain sheep, however, can be found in the very northwest of Mexico, around 1 the head of the Gulf of California, in Lower California, and rarely in Chihuahua. Further south they cannot go, for the torrid heat and waterless desert of the Tierra Caliente (hot country) prevent their further progress. Therefore this region forms the vanishing point of the genus Ovis in America, and the study of these sheep is all the more interesting on that account, writes I. N. Dracopoli in Country Life. Of the mountain sheep found in Mexico there are four species or subspecies: The Ovis mexicanus, whps» type locality is the Lake Santa Maria district in Chihuahua; the Ovis canadensis gaillardi of the Pinacate mountains in Sonora; and the Ovis nelson! and Ovis cervina cremnobates of Lower California. The first-named of these is now almost extinct, for they used to inhabit a country which was plentifully supplied with water and easily accessible, and they were soon almost exterminated by so-called “sportsmen.” They are distinguished by the large size of their ears and molar teeth, while their forehead is noticeably less concave than that of the typical Ovis canadensis. These sheep have been rightly, I think, described as a new species; but the other three are only or local varieties of the true Ovis canadensis typicus. It would be tedious, therefore, to go fully into the minute peculiarities that differentiate them from the well known Rocky Mountain sheep, as they are of interest only to the zoologist, and not to the blg-game-hunter. There is one point, however, that makes the Ovis canadensis gaillardi a particularly fine trophy, and that is the remarkable bulk of the horns, which are much bigger and more massive in comparison with the bodily size of the animal than those of the sheep in Wyoming and the north. ”

Not Wild or Shy. \ At present in the Plnacate mountains and in the Sierra del Pozo in Sonora there is a large number of them, and they are not very wild or shy, as they have not been much molested by the Indians and not at all by the white man, for the country is unknown, and has a bad name owing to its extreme aridity and lack of water. It was, in this region that my brother and I obtained some excellent heads, some of which are shown in the accompanying In the daytime and during hot weather the sheep are always found high up in the mountains. They come down to feed during the night, but invariably return to the rocky ledges and precipitous cliffs, which are their favorite haunts, soon after dawn. Here they bed down in the niches of the lava or under some overhanging boulder for the rest of the day; and so well does their coloring harmonize with their surroundings that not even the trained eyesight of the Indian can detect them. The hunter must, therefore, be early in the field. He should, If possible, camp high up the mountains in the sheep country, for this will give him the best chance of success. When these animals are moving about they are not difficult to see, for their white rump patch is most conspicuous and can be detected at a great distance. The secret of success is not to be in a hufry. Like nearly all other animals, they have always a sentinel on the look-out when they are feeding, generally a ewe, and the

hunter’s chief aim should be to spot this animal and avoid being seen by it. He should then take a careful note of the country, and by proceeding slowly add cautiously, and by/keeping in the shadows if possible, he should be able to approach them easily enough and select the best head. There is another point that should be remembered, and that is that the. sheep when frightened nearly always try to escape down the mountain-side, so that they should be approached, whenever the wind allows of it, from below.

Owing to the scarcity of all other food, the ruminants of this country have to depend almost entirely on the cacti and the young shoots and green bark of the mesquite and paloverde trees for sustenance. They are also very partial to the ocotillo (Fouqulera splendens), and when the latter begin to flower late in April, the sheep come down from the mountains to the edge of the plains and feed almost entirely on them. This diet seems to agree with them excellently, for they are always in the best of condition at this time of year. I do not know of any animals, either in Africa or America, whose meat Is so delicious to eat, and it is far nicer than that of the prongborn' antelope, which is much prized by the Mexicans. The dryness of the climate in the Sonora desert is largely responsible for the way some of the horns are split at the ends, which often spoils an otherwise perfect head and reduces its length by two to four Inches. It has the same effect on one’s fingernails, whlh becomfe very brittle and split or break at the slightest provocation. The horns of the old rams are especially dry, and are often much worn and scarred on their upper surface, ‘as can be seen in the photograph of the biggest ram we shot; but this is due to the blows they receive when fighting among themselves head to head.

Mountain sheep are not the only trophy that can be secured in this interesting country, for its fauna is almost as remarkable as its flora, and many species are confined to this locality and are not found elsewhere. Among game animals are the puma (Felis concolor) and a little-known -species of jaguar—-the “tigre” of the Mexicans —the bay lynx (L. ruffa), a local variety of the Texas collared peccary (D. angulatus sonorlensis), the black and the white tailed deer and the pronghorn antelope. One of the principal charms of hunting in this country is the variety of scenery met with. For the deer are found in abundance in the Santa Catalina mountains, among the pines and silver birches of the beautiful Canada del Oro. In the foot-hills lynx, puma and the black-tailed deer can generally be found, but here the scene is quite different and the vegetation becomes more characteristic. Hunting is difficult, as there is but little cover and days pass often without a chance for a shot.

It would be Impossible in a short article to describe in detail the various animals that live in the Sonora desert, or to mention the best hunt-ing-grounds; It Is undoubtedly the finest game country in the southwest today, as it has been untouched, and therefore unspoiled, by the ordinary traveler. But although big game is plentiful, good trophies are not secured without hard work and much patience. The heat is Intense and water is very scarce—in parts absolutely non-existent, so that no one should contemplate a hunting trip to the Sonora desert unless he is prepared to face discomfort and probably actual hardship.