Wilderness Reserves 



seen one day it was generally possible to find it 

 within a few hundred yards of the same spot the 

 next day, and certainly not more than a mile or 

 two off. There were severe frosts at night, and 

 occasionally light flurries of snow; but the hardy 

 beasts evidently cared nothing for any but heavy 

 storms, and seemed to prefer to lie in the snow 

 rather than upon the open ground. They fed at 

 irregular hours throughout the day, just like cat- 

 tle; one band might be lying down while another 

 was feeding. While traveling they usually went 

 almost in single file. Evidently the winter had 

 weakened them, and they were not In condition for 

 running; for on the one or two occasions when 

 I wanted to see them close up I ran right into them 

 on horseback, both on level plains and going up 

 hill along the sides of rather steep mountains. 

 One band in particular I practically rounded up for 

 John Burroughs — finally getting them to stand in 

 a huddle while he and I sat on our horses less than 

 fifty yards off. After they had run a little distance 

 they opened their mouths wide and showed evident 

 signs of distress. 



We came across a good many carcasses. Two, 

 a bull and a cow, had died from scab. Over half 

 the remainder had evidently perished from cold or 

 starvation. The others, including a bull, three 



'f^¥^i- 



