"Oh, Ranger!" * * * * * 15 



on the warm flesh, and leave the greater part of the carcass untouched, 

 although they occasionally bury the remains to eat later. However, 

 they prefer to kill another deer or antelope rather than eat flesh that is 

 cold. Since they are so wantonly destructive, the rangers hunt down 

 the mountain lions, but never to the point of extinction. They are crafty 

 animals and fierce fighters. 



Two Yosemite rangers, whose dogs cornered a lion in a tree one 

 winter, tell of the fight that ensued. The dogs surrounded the base of 

 the tree, barking. As the top swayed in the wind, the big cat snarled 

 and threatened to leap upon his pursuers. Two shots rang out. Both 

 were effective. The great cat snarled and hissed, leered at his enemies, 

 then plunged, claws outspread, straight down upon them. The rangers 

 barely escaped from the spot where the lion plunged into the snow. A 

 young and inexperienced dog charged too near the wounded beast. The 

 great jaws snapped, the lion shuddered and died with his teeth grip 

 ping the dog's snout like a steel vise. The rangers had to pry the jaws 

 loose to release the unfortunate canine. His nostrils were pierced by 

 two great teeth. It was a year before he was any good. He never at 

 tacked another mountain lion. 



The rangers have grown to love all wild life except those predatory 

 species which they so often observe destroying young antelope, deer, or 

 elk. Aside from these outlawed animals, a national park ranger is never 

 known to kill a native animal or bird of the park, or to express a desire 

 to kill. The states surrounding the national parks have open seasons on 

 deer, elk, moose, and other animals, and on birds. Around the parks are 

 some of the best hunting lands in the country, yet never does a ranger 

 ask permission to go outside the park to hunt. He apparently loses all 

 desire to kill, though hunting might have been his favorite sport before 

 joining the ranger force. 



Everybody who lives in a national park seems to love the wild ani 

 mals and wants to make pets out of them. In every park there are ranger 

 stations with special pets. It may be a 

 deer, an antelope, a woodchuck, or even 

 a badger. Squirrels, chipmunks, and other 

 smaller animals are common pets. Occa 

 sionally a ranger will tame a family of 

 skunks, and a ranger of Sequoia Park has 

 a family of foxes eating out of his hand. 

 One winter the rangers at Lake station 

 tamed a pine marten. This group also let 

 a skunk family live under the ranger sta 

 tion all spring without molesting them, and 

 the skunks never bothered the rangers. 



