58 * * * * * "Oh, Ranger!" 



down into the Big Thompson and Fall River valleys. In Yellowstone 

 the sheep are hard to see during the summer time, except near the sum 

 mit of Mount Washburn. Unfortunately, unthinking Sagebrushers, 

 seeing these animals early in the morning, chase after them trying to 

 take close-up snapshots, and so drive them out of the region. This is 

 regrettable for it denies the rest of the visitors to Mount Washburn 

 during that day the opportunity to see the bighorn mountain sheep, 

 really a rare sight. 



An animal similar in habits to the bighorn sheep is the Rocky Moun 

 tain goat. He is seen only by those who climb the high peaks, for the 

 mountain goat loves to perch on crags far above the rest of the animals, 

 with the world spread out at his feet. They are seen most frequently 

 on the high peaks of Glacier Park and on the slopes of Mount Rainier. 

 Being easily frightened, they lead precarious lives. It is indeed remark 

 able that they can exist at all on the rare grasses and flowers found well 

 above the timberline and just below the topmost snow-capped moun 

 tain peaks. 



The most familiar animal in the national parks is the deer. Protec 

 tion from hunters has not only increased their numbers but has made 

 them quite tame and friendly. These gentle, graceful creatures are 

 found in all of the parks, to the great delight of visitors, from whose 

 hands the deer have learned to eat raisins, bread, or what have you. 

 The rangers estimate that there are more than thirty thousand deer in 

 the parks, and many more in areas surrounding the parks. The park 

 deer are of three varieties: the mule deer, so named because of his 

 long, alert ears, the most prevalent species ; the white-tailed deer, found 

 mainly in Glacier and Yellowstone parks; and the black-tailed deer, 

 seen on the western slopes of Mount Rainier. 



Deer are easily tamed. They are quite gentle and are the pets of 

 many rangers and employes in the parks. They come to beg food, and 

 in some of the parks have learned to answer the call of rangers to 

 "come and get it," the "it" being oats from the stables. In fact, the 

 deer have become so much at home among humans that they 

 wear out their welcome. In Yosemite Valley they have eaten 

 the flowers and plants about the houses of the employes and 

 rangers and have virtually wiped out the evening primrose, a 

 delicacy which delights the deer's palate. This has raised an in- 

 k teresting problem for the rangers. Conservationists of flowers 

 claim the deer should be ousted to preserve the 

 wild flora. On the other hand, conservation 

 ists of animals claim that the flowers were 

 there to feed the wild fauna. So there is the 

 issue. Flora or fauna? 



