Ibex

“ The horns of the ibex are large and knotty, its skin is of a yellow color, and its beard short and black. The chase of the ibex, although it is not a very powerful animal, is attended, at times, with considerable danger; it has been known, when driven hard, to run full-but at the huntsman,40 and force him over the rock, although in doing so, it has at the same time, sacrificed its own life, falling headlong with its pursuer. The ibex is said to be a short-lived animal. Its flesh is much esteemed, and its skin is very thin. ”

“ We do not speak without a basis of comparative experience, having seen something of mountain-game in various lands. It may be that we lack speed of foot in traversing those rugged rock-peaks—we are far from denying this, let those smile who may. Few will do so who have once attempted to seek out and stalk the wild ibex—or it may be only bad luck. At any rate, our hardest days on Nevada or Gredos have not, so far, been rewarded by a single shot, or even by the sight of an ibex in a position where a stalk might be dreamt of. ”

“ It has been usually represented as a very fierce [202] animal, and certainly shows much ability to defend itself with its horns, when unable to escape from danger by flight; but when taken young it is easily tamed, and readily associates with oxen, accompanying them to and from the field.
Ibex or Wild Goat (Capra ibex) .—Different species of the ibex inhabit the mountain regions of Europe and Asia. It has a greyish-yellow, long fur, and powerful horns bent obliquely backwards. It frequently attains a weight of two hundred pounds. ”

“ Take it from me, Jim, it's the last word in mountain sport. The chamois isn't in it. Pooh, I've seen chamois within a hundred yards of a mountain macadam highway. But the ibex? Not much! The man who stalks and kills an ibex has nothing more to learn about stalking. Chamois, red deer, Scotch stag make you laugh after you've done your bit in the ibex line."
"How about our sheep and goat?" inquired Brown, staring at his comrade. ”

“ She wondered how she looked in her mirror, and took it out to see. “What kind of an animal am I?” she exclaimed. “O, I see—an ibex. What neat little horns, and how bright my eyes are! What would Alfred say if he knew I was an ibex?”
She called out to the skaters to ask them if they would look into her glass. “Hand it here,” answered one, who in the ice appeared very pale, thin, and respectable. “I am a philosopher; I am not afraid of the truth.” He looked in, and lo, there was a stork, standing on one leg, with his eyes half closed, and his head neatly tucked under his wing. ”

“ We, therefore, made arrangements for a man to start early to-morrow to Shanguz, to procure supplies there.
12th June. Up the valley leading to Bodicote in expectation of finding ibex. We had a tremendous climb which, though very toilsome, was not dangerous, but saw not a single ibex; we halted in a suitable spot to wait until evening, in hopes of game appearing. There was a bear in sight feeding below us, which, after some discussion, it was decided ought to be left unmolested, for fear the report of the guns might disturb ibex within hearing. Subhan went off to reconnoitre. ”

“ Ibex live habitually at a greater height than chamois or any other Alpine mammals, their vertical limit being the line of perpetual snow. There they rest in sunny nooks during the day, descending at night to the highest woods to graze. Ibex are gregarious, feeding in herds of ten to fifteen individuals; but the old males generally live apart from, and usually at greater elevations than, the females and young. ”

“ We found here a herd of nearly a score of ibex, ensconced in well-frequented lairs among the loose rocks and piornales along the highest ridge (they had not been disturbed for months) , and on so limited an area felt sure of more certain success than on the boundless sierras of Gredos, with their snow-sanctuaries always open to the ibex. But matters were not so simple, nor were the goats. Here, too, they had their sanctuaries. We will not weary the reader with merely sporting detail, but go at once to the point. ”

“ The horns of the male rise from the crest of the skull, and after bending gradually backwards terminate in smooth tips; the front surface of the remainder carrying bold transverse ridges or knots. About 1 yd. is the maximum recorded length of ibex-horns. The fact that the fore-legs are somewhat shorter than those behind enables the ibex to ascend mountain slopes with more facility than it can descend, while its hoofs are as hard as steel, rough underneath and when walking over a flat surface capable of being spread out. ”

“ The females and young ones may be met with all the year round, and often at no very great elevation.
"Although an excessively wary animal, the ibex is usually found on such broken ground that, if due care be taken, it is not very difficult to obtain a shot. The grand rule, as in all other hill stalking, is to keep well above the herd, whose vigilance is chiefly directed beneath them. ”

“ According to Colonel Markham the ibex "frequents the highest ground near the snows where food is to be obtained. The sexes live apart generally, often in flocks of one hundred and more. In October the males descend and mix with the females, which have generally twins in June and July. It is an extremely wary and timid animal, and can make its way in an almost miraculous manner over the most inaccessible-looking ground. No animal can exceed the ibex in endurance and agility." ”

“ Similarly, the Ibex comes sliding and leaping down precipitous sides of the mountains, sometimes halting with all the four feet drawn together, on a little projection scarcely larger than a penny, and sometimes springing boldly over a wide crevasse, and alighting with exact precision upon a projecting piece of rock that seems scarcely large enough to sustain a rat comfortably. ”

“ Packe's statement that he saw two on a misty morning in the Sierra Nevada probably arose from the similarity in size and form of the horns of the young or female ibex. Chamois inhabit only the loftiest, most wild and rocky mountain-summits, and are killed (usually with large shot) in big "batidas," or drives. How they manage to sustain life on these barren snow-clad heights in winter—since they never descend to the lower levels—passes understanding; but the case of the ibex is no less inexplicable. ”

“ When ibex are known to be frequenting the lower valleys and chasms of the sierra, guns are concealed among the broken rocks in the higher regions commanding the ravines by which the montéses are accustomed to ascend. Then the beaters enter from below, shots and unearthly yells disturb the timid animals, and slowly they ascend the mountain-side, listening ever and anon as they look down from some shelving ledge or giddy point. So slowly, indeed, do they sometimes come that the hunter may contemplate them for minutes before he can despatch his bullet. ”

“ The field of our operations was all scrub—strong thorny bushes clothing the steep and rock-strewn slopes, amidst which we subsequently found many "lairs" of the ibex—regular seats, like those of a hare or fox. Hidden in these strongholds, the ibex, our men asserted, would deliberately allow the beaters to pass them by: but we have strong grounds for the opinion that this only applied to the females—all ages or sexes, be it repeated, are alike to a cazador—and never to the males, which, always wild and crafty, rely for safety on far bolder tactics and modes of escape. ”

“ They bring forth their young in July, having generally two at a birth; though, like other gregarious animals, many are frequently found barren.
“‘The ibex are wary animals, gifted with very sharp sight and an acute sense of smell. They are very easily alarmed, and so wild, that a single shot fired at a flock is often sufficient to drive them away from that particular range of hills they may be upon. Even if not fired at, the appearance of a human being near their haunt is not unfrequently attended with the same result. ”

“ Should he see none, he imitates the shrill cry of the female, and not unfrequently a ram is thus betrayed by the whistle of love. The ibex-hunter must be provided with lungs of leather, a steady hand and eye, and untiring limbs.
The best time for ibex-shooting is during July and August, when camping-out on the higher regions is practicable and even enjoyable. The snow-storms and frozen state of the snow render the winter-and spring-shooting both dangerous and uncertain. ”

“ Instead of rushing horizontally, head to head, and pressing each other backwards, as rams do in their contests, the ibex after rearing aloft, come down again, horns foremost, using the weight of their bodies as the propelling power, each endeavouring to crush the other between his massive crest and the earth. ”

“ Each step had to be cut with a hatchet, or hollowed—the butt of a rifle is not intended for such work, but has had to perform it.
Every day we saw ibex on the snow-fields and towering rocks above our cave. They were now of a light fawn-colour, very shaggy in appearance, some males carrying magnificent horns. One old ram seemed to be always on the watch, kneeling down on the very verge of a crag 500 or 600 yards above us, and which commanded a view for miles—though miles read but paltry words! From where that goat was he could survey half a dozen provinces. ”

“ The Spanish ibex is so scarce, so rarely seen on the move by daylight, and so wedded to snow-fields beyond human reach, that it is by mere chance they are found in situations where a stalk is possible—very different to the descriptions we have by such men as Kinloch and Macintyre, of the sport that ibex afford in the Himalayas. ”

“ Though not an ibex, the sportsmen of India early gave this name to the tahr of the Nilgiri and Anamalai Hills. The Himalayan species is covered with long, shaggy hair; the South Indian has short, smooth brown hair.
"The ibex," says Hawkeye, the Indian sportsman, of this animal, "is massively formed, with short legs, remarkably strong fetlocks, and a heavy carcase, short and well ribbed up, combining strength and agility wonderful to behold. Its habits are gregarious, and the does are seldom met with separate from the flock or herd, though males often are. ”

“ The most enjoyable season for ibex-shooting (and on preserved ground the most favourable) is during August and September, when the snow has practically disappeared, except the permanent glaciers and stray patches in some northern ravines. Camp-life is then delightful and exhilarating and, given sound lungs and limbs, the game may be fairly stalked and shot. The photo shows a typical trophy—a grand ibex ram shot years ago on the Alcazába, horns 281⁄4 inches—another specimen measuring 29 inches is figured in Wild Spain. ”

“ Their sole human inhabitants are a segregated race of goat-herds, every man of them a born hunter, accustomed from time immemorial to kill whenever opportunity offered—and that regardless of size, sex, or season. That the ibex should have survived such persecution by hardy mountaineers bespeaks their natural cunning. ”

“ I agree, for the natives kill off male and female alike, only a few wily old rams remain, a mere fraction of the stock which formerly existed. The shepherds who come to these high tops to pasture their herds for a few weeks each summer have chances to kill the ibex which they do not neglect. When Don Manuel Silvela, the statesman, was here twenty years ago, some 150 ibex were driven past his post above the Laguna de Grédos. ”

“ BONELLI’S EAGLE (Aquila bonellii)
A pair disturbed at their eyrie.
As head of the list must stand the Spanish Ibex (Capra hispánica) , a game-animal of quite first rank, peculiar to the Iberian Peninsula, and whose nearest relative—the Bharal (Capra cylindricornis) —lives 2500 miles away in the far Caucasus. In Spain the ibex inhabits six great mountain-ranges, each covering a vast area but all widely separated. After a crisis that five years ago threatened extermination, this grand species is now happily increasing under a measure of protection and the ægis of King Alfonso. ”

“ The ibex is an animal of the goat kind, and inhabits the mountainous districts of the south of Europe, it is the most graceful of all its tribes; it is extremely active. It is very wild, and difficult to be shot, as it always keeps on the highest points. ”

“ Only after sun-down do the ibex descend, and never, even then, so far as timber-line. On these loftier sierras their home by day is confined to rock and snow; by night to that zone of moss, heath, and alpine vegetation that intervenes between the snow-line and topmost levels of scrub and conifer.
Such are the ibex of the loftier ranges—Grédos and Neváda. But in the south, wild-goats are found on mountains of inferior elevation, 4000 to 6000 feet, many of which are jungled—some even forested—to their summits, and there they cannot disdain the shelter of the scrub. ”

“ In May we could not hear of a single wild kid of the previous year's capture that had survived the twelvemonth in any of the hill-villages of Gredos. The form of the horns in the domestic goat is essentially different; they are much flatter, thinner, and not a quarter as large as those of the wild ibex. The latter can hardly have been the progenitor of the race of goats now domesticated in Spain.
The smell of a dead ibex is specially strong and unpleasant—an old male stinks far worse than a vulture ”

“ I watched them eagerly without a movement, lying on my back, till they disappeared over the ridge. One was a splendid old fellow, with huge horns, and moved very leisurely behind the others. How I longed to be within reach of him! The shikarries, who had occupied other places to watch, soon joined me, excited by the same sight. We were preparing to move, when two more ibex were seen following in the track of the others. We had to wait till they were out of sight: then, off we went, and had hard work to cross the ravine, and ascend the opposite hill of slate and snow, steeply scarped. ”