OBJECTS OF BREEDING WILD MAMMALS 145 



Isaac Bonine, of Niles, Mich., breeds both elk and Virguaia deer, 

 and has had thirty years' experience. He prefers elk because they 

 require less care than deer. Elk winter well on hay and corn fodder with 

 a small amount of grain and thrive in summer on blue-grass pasture. 

 While deer do reasonably well on the same food, they thrive better when 

 fed vegetables and in that latitude require some sort of winter shelter. 

 An elk requires no shelter. While Mr. Bonine has doubts as to the 

 profit of growing deer and elk for the venison, he thinks that breeding 

 them for park purposes can be made very remunerative. He has a 

 number of elk for sale. 



G. W. Russ, Eureka Springs, has a herd of 34 elk. They have 

 abundant range in the Ozarks on rough lands covered with hardwood 

 forest and abundant underbrush. He reports that the animals improve 

 the forest by cleaning out part of the thicket. Fully 90 per cent 

 of the females produce healthy young, and Mr. Russ thinks he could 

 make the business of growing elk for market profitable, if the law 

 would permit him to kill and export domesticated elk. He has an offer 

 of 40 cents a pound for the dressed carcasses in St. Louis. He thinks 

 that large areas now unutilized in the Alleghanies and Ozarks might 

 be economically adapted to produce venison for sale and he regards the 

 elk as especially suited for forest grazing. They should have about 

 twice as much range as the same number of cattle. 



J. W. Gilbert, of Friend, Neb., has been raising deer and elk for 

 seventeen years. He has at present 30 deer and 16 elk on prairie 

 pasture. He regards elk as the more profitable and has never had a 

 barren cow elk. 



T. J. Wilson of Lewisburg, Ohio, began raising deer and elk a 

 few years ago, with three head of each at the start. He has not suc- 

 ceeded so well with deer as with elk. Deer require a higher fence and 

 more care. Elk do well on hay, corn fodder and rough feed, and, if 

 they escape from an enclosure, ma}'' be driven back like cattle. He 

 originally paid S165 for two adult elk and a fawn. He has sold $300 

 worth of stock and has now a herd of 12, worth $1,000. 



Your committee has the names and addresses of about a dozen 

 other successful breeders of the American elk, but the time at our dis- 

 posal did not permit our obtaining particulars of their experience. 



BREEDING THE VIRGINIA DEER 



Testimony as to the hardiness of the Virginia deer and the profits 



of breeding them is not so unanimous as it is concerning the wapiti; 



but the general opinion is that with suitable range, plenty of good water, 



and reasonable care in winter, the business of growing the animals for 



10 



