40 ANIMAL LIFE OF CARLSBAD CAVERN 



ing. Timber was scarce, but excellent fire wood in the 

 form of dry cactuses, bushes, sotol and yucca stems was 

 abundant and easily obtained without the trouble of 

 cutting. On the high, half-naked, limestone ridges, 

 rocks and stones were found for shelters and fireplaces, 

 and an abundance of buffaloes, elk, and deer furnished 

 skins for such clothing as was required. 



Food, always the main factor in animal economy, 

 was abundant and easily obtained before the destroy- 

 ing white man came. Large game was to be found on 

 all sides. If the herds of buffaloes did not come up on 

 these stony ridges, they occupied the valley below, 

 where they could be watched for twenty miles as they 

 came down to the Pecos or Black rivers for water, 

 through deep cut trails that gave to the hunters, armed 

 with bows and arrows, every advantage of close range 

 and easy selection of choice animals. This alone would 

 have insured a happy Indian existence. But other 

 game was also abundant. Gray mule deer still roam 

 over the rocky ridges and hide in the narrow gulches. 

 Antelopes, now almost gone, occurred then in great 

 herds over the valley. Mountain sheep climbed over 

 the high canyon walls, as they do today only ten miles 

 to the west of the cave. The Merriam elk were then 

 abundant only a day's journey in the Sacramento 

 Mountains. Bears and wild turkeys were within easy 

 reach in the gulches to the west, and probably came to 

 the very door of the cave, but these animals were 

 sacred to some of the southwestern Indian tribes and 

 were not used as food. Small game was also abundant 

 and easily procured. Jack rabbits, which today com- 



