(_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.
[Illustration]
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.