60 * * * * "Oh, Ranger!" 



rods away, where the deer can be killed in hunting season. These 

 rangers claim also that the deer, when grazing outside the park, on 

 hearing the report of a rifle will invariably run for safety behind the 

 park line, where hunters cannot follow. Whether this is intelligence on 

 the part of the deer, or mere coincidence, is hard to say. Yet it does 

 seem that a deer can always pick a visitor who is friendly and possibly 

 the possessor of food, with whom to fraternize. 



A fine animal that was saved from extinction by the scouts, soldiers, 

 and rangers of Yellowstone Park is the Rocky Mountain elk. The elk 

 has long been a favorite victim of hunters because of his great antlers. 

 Outside the parks and mountain country adjoining Yellowstone the elk 

 were virtually wiped out a few years ago. The Yellowstone herds, en 

 joying protection since the creation of the park in 1872, have increased 

 until it is estimated that there are forty thousand elk in the park and 

 in the seven national forests surrounding the Yellowstone. The elk 

 range over much of the park and are easily seen at a distance by the 

 Dudes and the Sagebrushers. 



The elk is a magnificent animal, noble, stately, as large as a horse. 

 The bull elk, adorned with large, well-proportioned horns, is the hand 

 somest animal in the parks. At least, the rangers think so. When run 

 ning, he makes a magnificent picture. In September and October, during 

 the mating season, his shrill bugle or challenge, ringing through the 

 crisp air on a moonlight night, is one of the most thrilling sounds of 

 the mountains. The elk, though easily seen at a distance, is wary of 

 humans and the visitor who wants to take his picture must stalk him 

 slowly and cautiously. 



Being a grazing animal, the elk will not rustle for food at the higher 

 levels when the snows come. He moves to the lower altitudes, seeking 

 grass. Late in the fall, when the storms become bad, great herds of 

 elk may be seen leaving the park and the adjoining game preserves, 

 moving out into the area where they are unprotected. This is the time 

 when hunting is permitted in the neighboring states. Many elk are 

 killed by hunters, sometimes under revolting circumstances. Often the 

 great animals are mowed down with repeating rifles by hunters behind 

 rocks. There is no chance to scatter. Knowing only the complete pro 

 tection afforded in their summer haunts, the elk are like lambs slaugh 

 tered in a farmyard. The rangers fail to see the sportsmanship of 

 shooting the elk down in herds. Each hunter is allowed but one elk, 

 and it happens at times that after wanton killing there are dozens of 

 animals left on the snow after each killer has selected his victim. 



Terrible as are these slaughters, there is one other practice of the 

 hunters that rouses the rangers to even greater anger. That is the prac 

 tice of extracting the two large teeth from elk which are foundered in 



