File:Musk-ox, bison, sheep, and goat (1904) (14592028358).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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ld be back on top of you againjust as soon as you had lain down. It is all in the Musk-ox game; and so youendure. V The Musk-ox Although there is nothing in the appearanceor in the Ufe of the musk-ox to suggest romance,yet the Indians and the Eskimo surround it withmuch mystery. They say it is not Hke otheranimals, that it is cunning and plays tricks onthem, that it is not safe to approach, that it under-stands what is said. The Indians among whomI travelled have a tradition that long years ago awoman wandered into the Barren Grounds, waslost, and finally turned into a musk-ox by theenemy. Perhaps this accounts for the occa-sional habit these Indians have when pursuingmusk-oxen of talking to them, instructing themas to the direction of their flight, etc. Severalauthors maintain that these Indians, when hunt-ing, do not talk to other animals; but I haveheard them jabbering while hunting caribou afterthe same manner they do when running aftermusk-oxen. Why the Indians should consider 70
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The Musk-ox 73 the musk-ox tricky or ferocious, appears tome to be the only mysterious element in thediscussion; a less ferocious looking animal forits size would, it seems to me, be impossibleto find. Several Arctic explorers who havewritten on the musk-ox also refer to it as for-midable appearing and ferocious, but thoseare the last adjectives that I should apply to thecreature. The Indians and some of the Arcticauthors also say that it is dangerous to approach,especially when wounded. My experience doesnot indorse that statement. We encounteredabout one hundred and twenty-five musk-oxen,killing forty-seven, and I did not see one thateven suggested the charging proclivities for whichit is given credit. They stand with lowered heads,making a hook at the dogs that are nearest, andon occasion making a movement forward, prac-tically a bluff at charging, but I never saw onereally charge a dog, much less a man. I do notbelieve they can be induced to break the circlethey invariably form, a

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