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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



contains the only large herd that is left 

 in the country. Nor is it here only that 

 we observe the adaptaliility of this deer. 

 Coming as no doubt it did from Asia by 

 way of a land or ice bridge across Bering 

 Strait, the elk or wapiti, the largest of 

 the round-horned deer, gradually spread 

 to all parts of what is now the United 

 States, except perhaps the extreme 

 southwest, thus enjoying a wider range 

 than any other American mammal with 

 the possible exception of the black bear. 

 It is a similar adaptability that is seen 

 in the behavior of the captured elk. 

 For this herd furnishes a surplus of a 

 thousand elk a year which are caught and 

 shipped away to supply preserves and 

 zoological gardens. It takes only three 

 or four days to tame these wild animals 

 so that they can be shipped and handled 

 in small lots as easily as cattle. Yet, 

 such are the anomalies of Nature, this 

 animal (together with the wild buffalo) 

 is the only one to fail to respond to the 

 protection the park affords; it is still as 

 wild as ever and the tourists have diffi- 

 culty in believing the tales told them of 

 its abundance. And it is abundant: 

 careful estimates of the northern herd 

 place its number at thirty-seven thou- 

 sand, and there are other herds at the 

 heads of the Madison and Gallatin 

 rivers and along the southern boundary 

 of the park. Probably forty thousand 

 head winter within the park and seventy 

 thousand spend the summer there. In 

 severe winters, food for these elk be- 

 comes hard to get, for they eat grass, 

 browsing upon willow and quaking asp 

 only when forced to do so. They feed 

 then in the open "grass country" of the 

 northern section of the park where the 

 elevation is low and the snow not so 

 deep. From November to April they 

 can be seen by thousands in the Black- 

 tail, Hellroaring, Slough Creek, and 

 Lamar vallevs. On one ride of ten 



miles last winter a horseman counted 

 eight thousand four hundred and forty- 

 three elk in the Lamar Valley. Fre- 

 quently they appear close to the build- 

 ings about Tower Falls and occasionally 

 come even among the buildings at Mam- 

 moth Hot Springs. So many are seen 

 on the surrounding hills from Gardiner 

 that they cause no comment. But in 

 summer, the heat combined with the 

 flies drives the elk high up the mountain 

 heights and they are then in the natural 

 pastures at timber line. This habit 

 together with their wildness makes them 

 hard for the tourist to find. The elk 

 have some enemies within the park. 

 The panthers and the coyotes get a few 

 of the young, and the wolves get many 

 of the adults as well. As yet the damage 

 is not severe and it is hoped the authori- 

 ties can hold these marauders in check. 

 In one or two instances these wild elk 

 have been "tamed" by being fed. As 

 usual with members of the deer family, 

 familiarity with man soon makes them 

 dangerous. At times workmen have 

 been forced to climb trees to get away 

 from these tamed elk even when the elk 

 was a female without horns. Hence 

 attempts at taming have been dis- 

 couraged. An interesting stage in the 

 elk's life is that immediately following 

 birth. In the latter half of May and 

 early June the cows separate from the 

 herd and retire to the quaking asp and 

 willow thickets of the low valleys. Here 

 the young elk are born, usually a single 

 calf, but sometimes there are twins. 

 The new calf is dark brown, covered with 

 white spots; the long, ungainly legs are 

 so weak that the little elk can stand or 

 walk only a few moments at a time. For 

 the first few days the mother hides her 

 youngster in the brush whenever she 

 leaves it to secure food for herself. 

 The little elk so hidden sticks so closely 

 to his hiding place that one can approach 



