Big Game .hiiiiuils of ihc YcUowsionc 443 



Snow Pass. They grew daily mure abuiKhuil and Uie Imgling uL llie 

 bulls filled every valley. By November 20 tbey ap[)eared un tbe 

 flats bordering the Gardiner River at ^Mammoth, where I saw numer- 

 ous bands (figs. 68-70), and sometimes as many as a bundred in- 

 dividuals in a day. This locality is only four miles from tbe northern 

 boundary of tbe Park. The autumn of 192 1 was unusually mild and 

 open, and the first permanent snow came about November 18. The 

 danger of elk leaving the Park in even mild autumns is considerable, 

 as was shown by their close approach to the north line at this season. 

 At Camp Roosevelt, so remarkably well located for the study of 

 wild life, the summer visitor until recentl}' was likely to see '" Billy," 

 the interesting gelding elk, the only actualh- "tame" big game animal 

 in the Park (fig. 71). He roamed up, and down the Lamar Valley 

 in summer, but spent much of his time at Camp Roosevelt, where 

 although mischievous, he was a great favorite. In autumn he mi- 

 grated to Alammoth Hot Springs, but never consorted with other 

 members of his species. (See also Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 4, 

 1923, p. 252, for a brief history and photographs of this elk, by 

 M. P. Skinner.) 



YELLOWSTONE MOOSE 

 Alecs amcricaiius shirasl Nelson 



The moose are perhaps doing better than an}- other of the large 

 mammals. Not only are they holding their own, but they are ap- 

 parently increasing in numbers and enlarging their range. From the 

 extreme upper Yellowstone River and Lake region which is their 

 chief stronghold (figs. 73-77), they have been spreading" out gradu- 

 ally during the past twenty years. Now they are to be found on 

 Fawn Creek in the Gallatin Range ; in the Bechler River region, — 

 part of the Snake River drainage ; on Cpper Slough Creek, tributary 

 to the Lamar River ; scattered through the Blacktail Deer Creek and 

 Camp Roosevelt region (fig. 72) ; and in other sections where suit- 

 able swampy areas occur. I observed a number of moose this year 

 (ig2i) while accompanying Secretary of the Interior Fall's party on 

 a journey along the Upper Yellowstone River to the southern bound- 

 ary of the Park (fig. 47). In this region we saw in two days' travel 

 oyer the regular trail from the Lake to the boundary, fifteen moose 

 the first afternoon and at least four the following day. The moose 

 showed little fear of us ; in fact they seemed to have as much confi- 

 dence in humanity as range cattle. The sight of these great deer 

 standing solitary on the edge of the forest or feeding in family 

 parties in the willow thickets bordering the Yellowstone River en- 



