Mountain Sheep

Mountain sheep appear to be increas'Jig in Colorado, and, stranger still, the rare and timid animáis are leaving taelr dizzy haunts among the high mountain peaks and drawing nearer to the habitations of men than ever before, says the Denver Republican. In the comparatively low lands near the town of Jefferson there is now a flock of flfty or more mountain sheep. Jefferson is on the South Park railroad, about eighty-one miles southwest of Denver, in Park county. It is an old established community, and has near it the well known summer resort, Jefferson lake. The vicinity, disturbed by the rumble of trains as well as the sounds of human Ufe and industry, is not at all a quiet one. It has none of the characteristics which usually mark the natural home of the almost extinct mountain sheep. And yet for several days past a band of at least flfty of the soft-eyed, large-horned native sheep of the Rocky mountains has been calmly grazing around the town of Jefferson and close to the railroads. It is said that the sheep do not display any sign of fear of the Jefferson people. Many of them come in open daylight within easy pistol shot of the residences. They do not run away unless somebody curiously tries to frighten them. For many years the sight of mountain sheep has been a rarity in Colorado, and usually but one at a time has been seen. A hunger far off from civilization might decry a solitary sheep perched on a crag overlooking some wild and steep canyon. but hardly ever within gunshot range. No such thing as flfty sheep together has been reported, even by the veriest Munchausen of hunters. When a lone sheep was seen it usually disappeared from view at the slightest alarm. Considering these things, the descent of fifty sheep upon the town of Jefferson, as though they had formed themselves into an excursión party, somewhere among the mountains, does not look reasonably explainable. The general theory is that bitter cold and deep shows in the higher altitudes drove them downward, and that they joined together for mutual protection as they traveled from peak to peak. Killing mountain sheep is absolutely prohibited by law in Colorado. It is a closed season all the year round with the animáis, just as it is with buffalo.