278 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



even the young ones in the rutting season, are 

 highly excitable, if not really vicious, and for 

 these must be provided small and strong en- 

 closures. It is, indeed, unsafe to let a male 

 elk over four years old run at large, especially 

 if he has once shown viciousness. The remedy 

 for this is castration, which not only makes 

 him docile but improves the venison; and all 

 except the small breeding stud, frequently 

 changed, should be so treated when young. 



"We find from long experience," writes a man 

 who has made a business of deer-farming in the Ozark 

 Mountains of Arkansas, ' ' that cattle, sheep and goats 

 can be grazed in the same lots with elk, providing, 

 however, that the lots or enclosures are not small; 

 the larger the area the better. . . . An elk is the 

 natural enemy of dogs and wolves. We suffered 

 great losses to our flocks until we learned this fact; 

 since then we have had no loss. A few elk in a thou- 

 sand-acre pasture will absolutely protect the flocks 

 therein. 



The wMtetail as an investment. Virginia 

 deer are even better adapted than elk to rocky 

 forested places, such as are so numerous in the 

 Alleghenies. " Advocates of the Angora-goat 

 industry state that within the United States 



