were situated so as to afford a clear 

 view of several square miles of ante- 

 lope range. Althoiio;h anoilu-i- nest 

 had a more restricted view, a newly 

 dropped fawn was obsei'ved by 

 Elliott within siglit of it. Tlu' 

 fourth nest on the refuge was jjlaced 

 on the ])recipitous face of a small 

 cany(m. Although it was sliut off 

 from the open country, the rock 

 ledge above the nest afforded a clear 

 view of the open antelope range. 

 In two of these four nests two young 

 eaglets each Avere raised to flight 

 stage; another nest was probably 

 successful; and at the time of dis- 

 covery on June 10, the fourth nest 

 contained two recently dead eaglets 

 approximately 6 Aveeks old. 



Nest contents, animal remains, 

 and pellets at these nests were ana- 

 lyzed for evidence of golden-eagle 

 predation on antelope kids. Al- 

 though a portion of one antelope 

 kid found beneath a nest indicated 

 possible predation by eagles, El- 

 liott's field observations revealed 

 little predation of any sort on young- 

 antelope during the 1947 kidding 

 season. The two active eagle nests 

 on the eastern area were inaccessible 

 to the Avriter, but remains only of 

 rabbits and prairie dogs were dis- 

 covered below them. 



According to Robert Niedrach of 

 the Denver Museum of Natural 

 History, the 1017 caglf pojjulat ion 

 for the eastern area was ai)|)i'()xi- 

 mately one-half of that present be 

 tween 1930 and 19o5. lianchers in 

 the vicinity stated the antelope pop- 

 ulation had shown no noticeable 

 increase. In contrast, at the time 

 of this study the refuge was believed 

 to support close to the maxinuuu 



mnul)er of eagles for an area of its 

 type, and according to the Colorado 

 Game and Fish Department the 

 antelope population had increased 

 from 250 in 19:]9 to more than 500 

 in 1947. It woidd api)eai' that the 

 number of nesting gohh'n eagles on 

 these areas at kidding time had no 

 appreciable effect on antelope ])()pu- 

 lations. 



Elliott reported three instances 

 ill which eagles may have caused 

 the death of adult anteloi)e during 

 the winter of 1947-48. Lehti 

 (1947) also reported one highly 

 probable eagle kill on the refuge on 

 February 21, 1947. Although from 

 the spring of 1947 to the spring of 

 1948. golden eagles exerted some in- 

 fluence on the antelope, evidence 

 indicates that this was detrimental 

 only in a minor way. Under a four- 

 pliase utilization program involv- 

 ing sheep, cattle, antelope, and to a 

 less degree deer, there was competi- 

 tion for forage. Therefore, in the 

 overall analysis of the situation in 

 1947. it is believed that the destruc- 

 tion by the golden eagle of rabbits 

 and prairie dogs which were in 

 direct competition for forage with 

 the four major species, outweighed 

 whatever minor negative influence 

 there might have been. 



This brief field study does not 

 solve th(» eagle-antel()i)e pi'oblem 

 lliroiighoiil the wide overla]iping 

 range of the two species. Under 

 othei- conditions the situation as it 

 existt'd during the 1947-48 season 

 iiiiglit be subject to different inter- 

 pretation, even in northern Colo- 

 rado. 



Deer. — Under favorable condi- 

 tions the golden eagle may kill 



18 



