14 ***** "OA, Ranger!" 



The rangers of Mesa Verde National Park tell of a 

 rescue achieved by one of their number of a woman de 

 scribed as "a bachelor girl of indeterminate age." This 

 girl became panic-stricken while ascending the trail from the 

 Square Tower House, reached by ancient foot holes carved in 

 the rock by the Cliff Dwellers. For safety's sake, a rope is in 

 position to assist the climber in pulling himself up. The climb 

 is not a difficult one for a normal person, but this girl, becom 

 ing semi-hysterical, planted her feet in two of the holes and 

 clung on to the rope for dear life, screaming for help. She 

 ignored the ranger's assurance that she was in no danger, and 

 refused to budge. 



Finally he went down to rescue her. Finding both hands 

 and both feet busy holding on, when the ranger reached her 

 the woman reached over and planted her teeth in her rescuer's 

 arm. She kept them there while he gallantly carried her to the 

 top of the climb, despite his protests that the tooth-hold was 

 painful, unnecessary, and against the rules of the National Park Service 

 ranger force. 



The National Park Service goes to great lengths to warn visitors 

 against taking chances. They present every arrival in the national parks 

 with a manual explaining the simple rules and regulations. These are 

 three in purpose : first, to preserve the natural state and the wild life of 

 the parks; second, to protect the lives and persons of visitors; and 

 finally, to assure everyone an equal opportunity to enjoy the wonders 

 and the advantages of the national parks. The rangers are often asked 

 why they take the trouble to register the names and addresses of visitors 

 to the parks. That is a large job in itself. Often it is resented by visi 

 tors who like to travel incognito. That registration is for the protection 

 of visitors, for the purpose of knowing how to reach them in case of 

 emergency, and finally to catch criminals or other undesirables who 

 may take to the national parks as a refuge. 



Winter patrolling introduces an added element of sport into the lives 

 of the rangers in the trapping and shooting of predatory animals such 

 as wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions. The most numerous of these 

 predatory animals are the coyotes, found in all the parks and killed 

 each winter in large numbers. One of the Yellowstone rangers, Ted 

 Ogston, sets his quota at one hundred coyotes each winter. 



The most dangerous of the predatory beasts is the mountain lion. 

 These great cats, sometimes measuring twelve feet from nose to tip of 

 tail, are cruelly destructive of deer and antelope. As a rule, they eat 

 only hot, fresh flesh of a newly killed animal, generally making but one 

 meal off each kill. Their practice is to disembowel their victims, feed 



