THE llOOFKD AXIMALS OF THE YELLOWSTONE 



91 



and even touch him. Touchinij him 

 however breaks the spell and he totters 

 oil" on unsteady le^s to find his mother, 

 sometimes scjuealin^- like a little pig as 

 he goes. In the course of a week or ten 

 days the muscles become stronger and 

 the legs more serviceable; the mother 

 then leads her one by easy marches to- 

 ward the sunnner ranges away from the 

 heat and the flies which are beginning to 

 be bothersome. 



Another animal that is widely dis- 

 tributed throughout America, and one 

 that was \-ery important as a meat 

 supply to our pioneer forefathers is the 

 Virginia or white-tailed deer. Here in 

 the Yellowstone it is rare, only about 

 one hvmdred being known to exist. As 

 its range is restricted howe^'er to the 

 lower Gardiner River and to a small sec- 

 tion about Tower Falls, it is frequently 

 seen. Moreover its natural sagacity has 

 led it to appear in numbers at IVIam- 



moth Hot Springs in winter where it is 

 fed hay by the park scouts. This deer 

 is naturally timid and spends its time 

 hidden in the heavy alder and willow 

 thickets where it finds seclusion and 

 plenty of l)rowse. It has no enemies 

 except an occasional panther; but owing 

 to lack of suital)le range within the 

 Yellowstone it is improbable that it will 

 ever increase in nvunbers. 



The mule deer however, has a different 

 status. This is the deer known through- 

 out the Rockies as the " black-tailed 

 deer," although the name ought to be 

 restricted to the Columbian black-tail 

 of the coast states. It is preeminently 

 a deer of the open, frequently seen on 

 open, sage-brush hills; and even when 

 it does go into timber, it is apt to select 

 open pine and fir forests in contrast with 

 the thick brushy woods that the white- 

 tailed deer prefers. Estimated con- 

 servatively at twelve hundred, it ■ has 



Bull moose crossing a beaver dam. The moose in Yellowstone are living farther south than any other moose 

 of the country. They number some six hundred and there is splendid prospect for their protection and increase 



