The Audubon Societies 



141 



and Three Arch Rocks, Oregon; and Saint 

 Lazaria, Alaska. 



"The establishment of these reser- 

 vations has aroused wide interest both 

 among our own people and in foreign 

 countries, and has placed the United 

 States at the head of the nations of the 

 world in the work of National bird pro- 

 tection. May the next decade show even 

 greater progress in the development of 

 those refuges, and in the various lines of 

 conservation work which the National 

 Association of Audubon Societies has so 

 successfully undertaken." 



Notes on the Elk Situation 



The difficult question of how to care 

 for the herds of Elk which pass the sum- 

 mer in the Yellowstone National Park 

 and the adjoining Teton Game Preserve 

 of Wyoming as yet remains unsolved. 



It is estimated that about forty-seven 

 thousand Elk inhabit this territory in 

 summer. When the heavy snows fall in 

 in early winter, the Elk are driven out of 

 these mountains in quest of food, some of 

 them moving northward from the Park 

 into Montana, and others seeking lower 

 levels south of the Park. The ancestors 

 of these Elk for untold generations have 

 probably been making migrations of this 

 character. In days gone by, it was not 

 difficult for them to find an abundant 

 food supply — the grass of the natural 

 meadows and the twigs from trees and 

 bushes growing along the stream being 

 sufficient for their need. In latter years, 

 however, the ranchers have come, and not 

 only have innumerable wire fences been 

 strung across the country, preventing in 

 some directions the progress of the Elk, 

 but almost all available food has been 

 removed. 



This now results in a heavy annual 

 drain to the herds, occasioned by the 

 death from starvation of the young and 

 more helpless Elk. From a reliable source 

 it is learned that two years ago the bodies 

 of over 1,000 young Elk were found 

 strewn along Yellowstone River, north 

 of the Park. Apparently little has been 



done to alleviate the suffering of the herd 

 that each winter travels into this terri- 

 tory. 



The herd which moves southward from 

 the Teton Game Preserve passes chiefly 

 into Jackson's Hole, a large irregular 

 valley about ten by forty miles in extent. 

 The ranchmen in this neighborhood early 

 in the season gather the hay with which 

 to feed their domestic stock during the 

 winter, and the Elk are prevented from 

 reaching it by high fences built for the 

 purpose. 



Mr. S. N. Leek of Jackson, Wyoming, 

 in a recent letter to this office, says: "In 

 the winter of 1910-11 snow fell to an 

 unusual depth in Jackson's Hole, then, 

 turning warmer, it rained, then colder, 

 froze up, completely cutting the Elk off 

 from their food supply and the entire 

 herd was threatened with starvation. 

 Congress was appealed to, and nobly 

 responded by appropriating $20,000 for 

 the relief of the Elk. In the meantime, 

 the Wyoming Legislature appropriated 

 $5,000. An agent was appointed and sent 

 in; all available hay was purchased (about 

 two hundred and sixty tons) and with this 

 greatly insufficient amount the attempt 

 was made to save 10,000 starving Elk." 



Mr. D. F. Hudson, State Game Warden 

 of Wyoming, estimates that in 1911-12 

 about 5,000 Elk were congested in the 

 lower end of the valley, and here a serious 

 attempt was made to feed them. Despite 

 this fact, when the spring came and the 

 snows melted, the bodies of 726 Elk, 

 chiefly calves, were found in the neighbor- 

 hood. This does not take into account the 

 loss sustained in the upper reaches of 

 the valley, where at least 8,000 Elk were 

 known to winter. 



According to the opinion of some 

 observ'crs, the large mortality among 

 calves must, in a measure, be accounted 

 for because of the heavy killing of the 

 large males, for which there is growing 

 demand. An old bull Elk not only pro- 

 vides more meat than a young bull or 

 cow, but the splendid antlers are an allur- 

 ing trophy to the big-game hunters. In 

 addition to this, the large males produce 



