Forest Reserves as Game Preserves 



LARGE GAME IN THE NORTHERN PART OP THE 

 BLACK MESA RESERVE. 



Black-tailed deer, antelope, black and silver tipped 

 bears and mountain lions are the larger game animals 

 which frequent the yellow pine forests in summer. 

 Wild turkeys are also common. 



The black-tailed deer are still common and gener- 

 ally distributed. In winter the heavy snow drives 

 them to a lower range in the pinon belt toward the 

 Little Colorado and also down the slope of Tonto 

 Basin, both of these areas lying outside the reserve. 

 The Arizona white-tailed deer is resident throughout 

 the year in comparatively small numbers on the 

 brushy slopes of Tonto Basin, and sometimes strays 

 up in summer into the border of the pine forest. 

 Antelope were once plentiful on the plains of the 

 Little Colorado, and in summer ranged through the 

 open yellow pine forest now included in the reserve. 

 They still occur, in very limited numbers, in this 

 forest during the summer, and at the first snowfall 

 descend to the lower border of the pinon belt and 

 adjacent grassy plains. Both species of bears occur 

 throughout the pine forests in summer, often follow- 

 ing sheep herds. As winter approaches and the sheep 

 are moved out of the higher ranges, many of the 

 bears go over "The Rim" to the slopes of Tonto 

 Basin, where they find acorns, juniper berries and 

 other food, until cold weather causes them to hiber- 

 nate. The mountain lions are always most numerous 

 on the rugged slopes of Tonto Basin, especially dur- 

 ing winter, when sheep and game have left the 

 elevated forest. 



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