84 



WILD ANIMALS Op OLACIKR NATIONAL PARK. 



Alorj^ tlio lii^licj- tiiiils tlioir si^n was ulniost entirely of goat 

 wool and slieep hai)-, .showing wliat had been their principal prey, 

 but in some cases deer hair was also detected, and in the valleys 

 it was the main refuse from their food. In places where their 

 tiacks were most abundant the sheep and goats were usually scarce, 

 and ('\idcnlly tlie almost inaccessible clifl's U) which these animals 

 icsort during the daytime are their only protection from constant 

 attacks of tlie coyotes. In tin; evening both, the sheep and goats 

 con)e down into the little alj>ine meadows to feed, and if not con- 

 stantly harassed they would undoubtedly remain at much lower 

 lexels during the daytime than at [^ntsent, when they w(juld be of 

 jiioie general interest to the tourists. Their only safety seems to be 

 in getting on the narrowest, most elevated slielves of the cliffs, where 

 ]/Uisuit would be didicult aixl clangerous, and where the naked rocks 

 are \()() Kjugli and sliaij> for the hoofless feet of carnivores. To save 



their fvAtt the co\'otes keep 

 ve ry 1 a rgel y a long the 

 trails or in tljc nreadows 

 wliere the ground is soft, 

 and for this reason they 

 are easily trapped. I was 

 told that last winter one 

 trapper caught 22 on Flat 

 1"op Mountain where they 

 pass over from the Water- 

 ton to the McDonald 

 Creek valley.' It would 

 not be difficult for one or 

 two reliable and skillful trappers, kept on the job throughout the 

 year, to keep the number of coyotes in the park to a practically 

 harmless minimum. 



Mountain Red Fox: Vvl/fxH fulva mocroura liaird. — The moun- 

 tain red or cross foxes ai"e occasionally seen in Olacier Park, and 

 in :ill their vai-ious color phases can be readily recognized by the 

 hirgc white tips of the bushy tails. They vary in color fr-om the 

 yellow red to a very much dai'kei' yellowish brown, with often a pro- 

 nounced dar-k stripe across the shoulders, which gives this phase the 

 !.ame of cross fox. J. E. Lewis, at Lake McDonald, had some skins 

 of the pure red, but more of varying shades of cross, and one that 

 was showing the white tips on a very dark' undei'fur that would have 

 been f'lassed as a silver-gray, except for- a little rusty on the sides of 

 tlic neck and flanks. I could get no record of the pure black fox 

 fr-om the park ar-ea, but this fully melanistic phase is so rare that 

 vei-y few are taken anywhere iij the Kocky Mountain region. All 



I'LuUi. by J, A. IjoriiiZ' 



Vm. in. — Mouritalu nd fox In Win'J Illv< 

 tains, Wyoming. 



101 IM. 



Mouii- 



