Nancy Koenig, age 15, of St. Louis, Mo., for her question; 

What is a chamois?

The chamois is a slim cousin of our Rocky Mountain goat. He is at home in lofty mountain regions of Europe and Asia Minor. Few people scaie these rugged peaks and fewer people ever see this agile acrobat for he is rare and very shy swiss mountaineers regard a tuft of his thick coat as a special trophy for he is a very hard fellow to catch. At one time, People hunted him to male softer than soft chamois dusters from his skin  which explains why he now is rare and very shy.

This mountain acrobat is a sturdy animal about four feet long. He stands about 32 inches at shoulder level and his goat like head is crowned with a pair of sharply hooked horns. He can leap l3 feet high among the crags and spring safely across a gorge 23 feet wide. His food is scrubby vegetation and he has a double coat of thick long and short fur to protect from the cold.