142 



Bird - Lore 



teeth for which there is a large demand on 

 the market today. When an Elii is about 

 six months old, there appears, on either 

 side of the upper jaw, a tooth which con- 

 tinues to grow in size and beauty until 

 it reaches perfection, when the Elk is 

 about three or four 3'ears old. These teeth 

 get to be about the size of the end of 

 one's finger and are in the neighborhood 

 of three-quarters of an inch in length. 

 Not only are they composed of beautiful 

 white, polished ivory, but the cutting 

 end assumes a brown or chestnut hue. 

 Many of the members of the Order of 

 Elks wear these as watch -charms. A 

 beautiful pair will sometimes sell as high 

 as $75.00, although the usual price ranges 

 from ten to twenty dollars. 



The killing of large numbers of the old 

 Elk therefore reduces the efiiciency of the 

 herd as breeding stock, and young males 

 being thus privileged to mate before com- 

 ing to their full strength, a condition 

 exists which does not normally obtain to 

 any great extent if the strong, fighting 

 bulls are still present in the herd. The 

 offspring from these undeveloped males 

 are regarded as not having the strength 

 and endurance which under natural con- 

 ditions they would enjoy. 



The United States Biological Survey, 

 together with the Game Protective author- 

 ities of the States of Wyoming and Mon- 

 tana, are giving this entire subject serious 

 consideration and, in addition to providing 

 larger quantities of hay for the Elk during 

 the period of heavy snows, have proposed 

 to provide as far as possible for a perma- 

 nent natural range in winter. As a still 

 further safeguard, the state authorities 

 should employ a larger game-warden 

 force and see that the Elk are not killed 

 out of season and, in Wyoming particular- 

 ly, enforce absolutely the statute which 

 prohibits the killing of the Elk for their 

 teeth. 



The policy now adopted by the Govern- 

 ment to remov'e annually from the Yellow- 

 stone Park the surplus increase, and place 

 them in game preserves elsewhere, will 

 doubtless result in very materially help- 

 ing to preserve the species. 



The Boone and Crockett Club, organ- 

 ized especially for the protection of large- 

 game animals, states in its Annual Report 

 for 191 2 that during the past year 480 

 Elk were transferred, 64 of which were 

 shipped by the Biological Survey to other 

 localities as follows: 



Twenty-three were sent to the Sundance 

 National Forest of South Dakota and 

 Wyoming; 15 to the Billy Meadows, 

 Wallowa National Forest, Oregon, where 

 they were placed in an inclosure; 10 to 

 Fish Lake National Forest, Utah; 8 to 

 Wichita National Forest, Oklahoma; 5 to 

 the Bison Range, Montana; and 3 to the 

 City Park, Boulder, Colorado." 



Continuing its report on Elk, the Game 

 Preserve Committee of the Club says: 

 "The state of Wyoming transferred 125 

 Elk calves to points in the East Central 

 part of the state, but this number was 

 considerably reduced by losses en route. 



"The state of Montana moved about 

 200 to four different points in the state. 



"The Yellowstone Park authorities sent 

 abcHit 60 to the Cascade Mountains of 

 Washington and about 30 to the Glacier 

 National Park. 



"Efiforts have been made by the Bio- 

 logical Survey to induce the states of 

 Wyoming, Montana, and the authorities 

 of the Yellowstone Park, to arrange for 

 the transferring of 500 Elk annually from 

 each of the great herds for re?t eking 

 other suitable areas in the United States. 

 As yet, however, no agreement has been 

 reached. On December 18, 191 2, the 

 Interior Department approved regulations 

 limiting the number of Elk to be distribu- 

 ted from the Yellowstone Park herd to 

 fifty for any one State. 



"Although the Game Committee favors 

 the introduction of Elk in permanently 

 fenced areas where ' the surrounding 

 country is not vast enough to receive an 

 overflow from the increasing hard, never- 

 theless its efforts will be directed toward 

 the establishment of wild herds in Game 

 Refuges where such herds can incresae 

 and restock the adjacent region. 



"The Elk on the Pacific Coast, in both 

 Washington and California, are of differ- 



