Their cloven shaped hooves are very sharp and expand to give them good traction. Musk oxen were kept … Musk Ox are ruminants like sheep and goats and their hooves left the characteristic kidney shaped prints in the snow. A view of the new barn from the pastures and the Talkeetna mountain range behind it. Their hooves are round with sharp rims which is good for traction in the icy and rocky environment. Both males and females have broad, curved horns that grow their entire lives. Musk ox uses large front hooves to break the ice and reach the water hidden below. A musk ox will eat a lot of plant matter. Colorado writer Donna Druchunas visited the farm and wrote this piece, originally published in Interweave Knits Winter 2015. “Whatever the musk-ox … In such circumstances, their hooves come in handy for excavation to hunt for any vegetation buried under the snow. Since the musk ox lives in the frozen tundra of the arctic, they often have to use their hooves to dig in the snow and ice to get to the roots of whatever was growing there before the frosts fell. All was calm apart from a randy male attempting to, unsuccessfully, mount a female and the youngster, full of energy, running all around in the snow. From the humped shoulders, the muskox's back slopes slightly toward its narrow hindquarters. Appareance He is a Brown Musk Ox with White Muzzle and Horns and Black Hooves. Due to their territorial personality, one purpose of the Musk Oxen's horns is for defence. During the summer, however, they don’t have to use their hooves to dig into the snow and frost. “Whatever the musk-ox … Patchwork Musk Ox is a New Character in Patchwork Pals. The muskox (Ovibos moschatus, in Latin "musky sheep-ox"), also spelled musk ox and musk-ox (in Inuktitut: ᐅᒥᖕᒪᒃ, umingmak; in Woods Cree: ᒫᖨᒨᐢ, mâthi-môs, ᒫᖨᒧᐢᑐᐢ, mâthi-mostos), is an hoofed mammal of the family Bovidae. The musk oxen is part of the Bovidae family, a taxonomic group of over 140 extant (living) species including domestic cattle, sheep, goats, bison, antelopes, and wildebeest. Muskoxen have cloven hooves, all four of which are the same size. The musk ox habitat is the tundra and hilly areas. During winter, the plants often get covered with a thick blanket of snow, due to continuous snowfall. Mature bulls are about 5 feet high at the shoulder and weigh 600-800 pounds. But he got a fat porcupine on Day 66 and ate the musk-ox from the horns to hooves including the contents of its stomach. During the winter, the musk oxen use their horns to break through the ice and packed snow to get to the grass. The colour of the Arctic Fox's fur depends on the season. The musk oxen are equipped with sharp hooves (feet) for digging the snow whenever needed. Arctic Fox. During the summer, it either has a brown or gray coat and a white coat during the winter. The muskox's short, stocky legs and large, rounded hooves enable the animal to move through shallow snow and to be an agile climber on snow and rock. The Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, Alaska, is harvesting this precious fiber from musk oxen by hand-combing them once a year, as they naturally shed their coats for spring. Musk ox has large, stocky body, short legs with large, rounded hooves and short tail. Musk oxen are vegetarians. But he got a fat porcupine on Day 66 and ate the musk-ox from the horns to hooves including the contents of its stomach. Whilst cattle, bison and buffalos are in the subfamily Boninae, the musk ox is in the subfamily Caprinae, which also includes ibex, sheep, and goats. Cows are smaller, averaging approximately 4 feet in height and weighing 400-500 pounds.