Part 14

Here it should be mentioned that the European and the American species are the only living kinds of wild cattle properly entitled to be included under the name of bison; the so-called Indian and Burmese bison belonging to a totally different group of the ox tribe.

European bison, which associate in large herds, are essentially forest animals, although the forest they inhabit must be comparatively thin and intersected with glades and meadows where the herd can graze. The neighbourhood of water is also essential; and when muddy pools are available, they are utilised for wallowing. In addition to taking these mud-baths, bull bison in summer are fond of rolling in sandy or dusty spots.

Leaves and grass form the greater portion of the food of the Bielowitza herd in summer, one particular kind of grass, known as zubr-grass, being a special favourite and communicating to the animals themselves an aromatic odour. Young shoots, twigs, and bark, especially those of the ash, are also largely eaten; and in obtaining bark the stems of trees are frequently stripped as high as the animals can reach, while numbers of saplings are trampled down. Except where they are artificially fed, bison have to depend almost entirely upon buds, twigs, bark, and patches of dry grass and bracken for sustenance; and at this season the herds leave the damper parts of the forest to take up their quarters in the driest situations they can find.

Although an adult bull bison is more than a match for any wolf that ever existed, the Bielowitza herd is constantly harassed by the attacks of wolves, bears, and lynxes, which kill many of the calves, and probably also overpower weakly and half-starved cows in winter, especially if the wolves hunt in packs.

Bison feed chiefly in the early mornings and evening, although they may be seen abroad at all hours. During the breeding-season, in August and September, fierce combats take place between rival bulls for the mastery of the herds. When disturbed or alarmed, the herd breaks into a quick trot, which soon develops into a heavy lumbering gallop; and there is scarcely a finer sight in the world than a charging troop of these magnificent beasts.

THE GAZELLE

(Gazella dorcas)

Although many kinds of gazelles are now known, the gazelle par excellence, that is to say, the ghazal of the Arabs, is the beautiful little species represented in the Plate, which, in order to distinguish it from its relatives, naturalists have designated the dorcas. And no more beautiful and delicately made creature exists in the world than this same gazelle, which has formed the theme of poets--especially in the East--for centuries, as the emblem of beauty, elegance, and fleetness. Many people persist in confusing gazelles with deer, although the two groups have but little in common, being broadly distinguished by the characters of their horns, which in gazelles are hollow, unbranched sheaths of true horn supported on cores of bone, while in deer they are branching structures of bare bone. Indeed, the so-called horns of deer are not really horns at all, at all events from the point of view of the naturalist, but rather antlers; and gazelles constitute a section of that group of ruminants collectively known as antelopes.

Of the approximate size of a roebuck, the true, or dorcas, gazelle, like most of its kindred is coloured to harmonise with the more or less desert conditions of its home. The delicate rufous fawn of the upper-parts accords with the yellow tint of the rocks or sand amid which these beautiful creatures spend most of their time; while, when the animal is standing in the full glare of an Eastern sun, the white of the under surface counteracts the effect of the dark shade thrown by the body, and thus, even at comparatively short distances, makes for more or less complete invisibility. Neither is the white “blaze” on the rump without its special use, as it serves as a guide to the members of a troop to follow the line taken by their leader when safety depends solely upon fleetness of foot; the effect of the danger-signal on such occasions being increased by the elevation of the tail, of which the white under surface is then shown. In the bucks alone do the gracefully curved and heavily ringed black horns attain their full development; those of the does being thin and nearly smooth spikes.

The range of the gazelle is large, including the whole of northern Africa, from Morocco in the west to Egypt in the east, and extending southwards to Nigeria and the Egyptian Sudan; while in Asia it embraces Palestine and Syria. In western and southern Arabia it is, however, replaced by the Arabian gazelle (Gazella arabica), which is itself a relative of the edmi gazelle (G. cuvieri), of Morocco, Algeria, and western Tunisia; the last-named being a mountain-dweller, whereas the dorcas is largely a native of the plains.

In the deserts and plains between the Nile and the Red Sea, where the dorcas gazelle is especially numerous, its food chiefly consists of mimosa-bushes; these bushes growing most abundantly on low, boulder-strewn hills which form the favourite feeding-places of the gazelles. Unlike many ruminants, gazelles are almost constantly on the move, resting only during the very hottest hours of the day, when they seek the shade of the mimosas: and when thus reposing, even experienced hunters find it extremely difficult to distinguish them from the boulders amid which they lie.

Gazelles mostly associate in herds of variable size; but they are generally seen on their feeding-grounds either in small parties of from two to eight head, or singly. They are extremely shy and watchful, and nearly always feed with the wind behind them; while their favourite stations are on elevated ground, where they can command an extensive view of the plains below. When a herd is alarmed and takes to flight, its members always seek shelter on the nearest hill.

The senses of sight, smell, and hearing are all highly developed in gazelles; and the speed of these beautiful antelopes is little short of marvellous. Indeed, when a gazelle is fleeing from the slughi hounds, or so-called Persian greyhounds, with which the Arabs hunt the fawns, they seem scarcely to touch the ground, and to be flying rather than running.

Previous to the pairing-season the bucks fight among themselves, and so fiercely that they not infrequently lose a horn. After a gestation of between five and six months, the doe gives birth to a single fawn, which is at first extremely helpless, when it is most assiduously nursed by the mother. Young gazelles are beautiful little creatures, which in their own country can be kept and tamed without difficulty; in cold climates they require, however, shelter and protection in cold and bad weather.

Pictures of the gazelle are common among the ancient Egyptian frescoes, especially in the temples at Giza, Thebes, Sakhara, and Beni-hassan; and from a painting in a tomb at Sakhara it may be inferred that herds of these graceful ruminants were kept in a half-tamed condition in Pharaonic times.

THE MOUFLON

(Ovis musimon)

The mouflon, or muflon, is the only wild sheep inhabiting Europe, where it is restricted at the present day to the mountains of Corsica and Sardinia. In former times it doubtless had a more extensive range, and there are reports of its occurrence within the historical period in Greece and the Balearic Islands. It is likewise reported to have once inhabited the mountain ranges of central Spain.

Like all wild sheep, the mouflon has a hairy coat, while its tail is short and deer-like, as in the small domesticated sheep of Soa and other Hebridean islands, of which it is probably the ancestor. The woolly fleece and long tail of many domesticated breeds must accordingly be regarded as features due to careful selection; and in this connection it is important to notice that some of the domesticated sheep of Africa, as well of the East, possess hairy coats like their wild ancestors.

The general colour of the mouflon, like that of so many ruminants, is of a protective nature, being dark above and white beneath, with a white rump-patch as a signal-mark for the members of the flock when in flight. In accordance with the nature of its surroundings, the mouflon has a darker and more rufous coat than the gazelle; but old rams have a whitish saddle-patch on the back in the winter coat. In their native haunts these sheep are stated to be very difficult to detect. The white streaks on the face so characteristic of the gazelles are wanting, but the dark flank-band dividing the fawn of the back from the white of the belly is a feature common to mouflon and many species of gazelles.

In height the mouflon ram stands only about 27 inches, so that the species is one of the smallest of the wild sheep. The horns of the rams usually curve forwards on the sides of the face; the right horn thus forming a right-handed spiral, and vice versa. In some Sardinian rams, however, there is an alteration in the direction of the upper part of the spiral, so that the horns curve backwards over the neck, instead of forwards by the sides of the face. The ewes of the Sardinian mouflon appear to be generally, if not invariably, hornless; but some Corsican females, at any rate, carry small horns; and it may be that the presence or absence of horns in this sex forms a distinction between the races respectively inhabiting the two islands.

Mouflon are found only in certain parts of the mountains of Sardinia and Corsica; and when in repose usually resort to high peaks or ridges whence a wide view can be obtained. Moreover, they frequently select situations where currents of air from two different situations combine, and they are then absolutely unapproachable by the sportsman. In much of the ground they frequent, the valleys are filled with a thick growth of ilex; while they feed on the hills amid abundant heather, which affords admirable covert for the approach of the stalker.

In the pairing-season, which takes place during December and January, the old rams, like the males of most ruminants, engage in fierce combats for the possession of the females. The ewes give birth to their one or two lambs during April and May; and these, like the lambs of domesticated sheep, are able to run with their mothers at a very early age. When the rams are in good condition, mouflon-mutton, if hung long enough, is excellent for the table.

In Cyprus, Asia Minor, and Persia the mouflon is replaced by the red sheep (Ovis orientalis), a redder and, in the case of some races, larger species, often with a fringe of blackish hair on the throat of the old males, and the horns in that sex always curving backwards behind the neck. The race of this species inhabiting the Troödos mountains of Cyprus is smaller than the rest.

Farther east, namely, in the Kopet Dagh range dividing Persia from Turkestan, the red sheep gives place to the well-known urial (O. vignei), in which there is a long white throat-fringe to the old rams, whose horns curve forwards by the sides of the face. This species ranges through Baluchistan and Afghanistan to the Salt Range of the Punjab, and thence along the ranges flanking the Indus into Ladak and Tibet.

In the Altai and Tibet, together with other parts of central Asia, we reach the country of the great argali sheep (O. ammon), with its numerous races; while in the Yana Valley of Siberia and in Kamchatka we first meet with the so-called bighorns (O. canadensis), of which the typical race is North American. One peculiar species (Ammotragus lervia) inhabits the north of Africa, but in the rest of that continent, as also in peninsular India, the Malay countries, and South America, wild sheep are unknown.

THE RED DEER

(Cervus elaphus)