34 



WILD ANIMALS OF GLACIER NATIONAL PARK. 



current River; and in August their tracks were common along Ken- 

 nedy Creelv, Belly River, and in the Waterton Lake valley. Most of 

 those seen were does and fawns, and close to the buildings at Sun 

 Chalet an old doe and her spotted fawn were seen almost every da}', 

 up to July 25. During July and August many tracks and a few old 

 bucks were seen near timberline along the crest of the range. At 

 Granite Park, July 18, five bucks in red summer pelage, with 

 velvet-covered horns were seen together. A buck with horns in the 

 velvet was several times seen near Piegan Pass in the upper edge of 

 the Hudsonian Zone, and fresh tracks were seen near the Blackfeet 

 Glacier and in many other of the high sections, but the tracks do not 



usually distinguish the species. 

 Generally, in midsummer, the 

 bucks are at the upper edge of 

 timber, where troublesome flies 

 and mosquitoes are swept away 

 by the wind, while the does hide 

 their fawns in the deep woods and 

 thickets of the lower levels and 

 depend on the dense cover and 

 water for protection from insect 

 pests. There is much shifting 

 back and forth as the deer are 

 disturbed, and their tracks often 

 show along the trails for consid- 

 erable distances. During the year 

 there is also a well-defined migra- 

 tion from the high-up range of 

 the bucks in summer down to the 

 steep, warm slopes of the lower 

 valley sides in winter. At the 

 lower end of Waterton Lake 75 or 

 100 mule deer were estimated last 

 winter to be along the warm rocky 

 slopes. Considerable numbers are said to winter along the warm 

 slopes of Swiftcurrent and St. Mary Lake valleys, where bare slopes 

 may usually be found and wdiere browse and winter food are abun- 

 dant. Some drift out of the park and are killed, but apparently 

 the deer are steadily increasing with the protection afforded them 

 by the park rangers. With the abundance of choice food and favor- 

 able wintering grounds many thousands of deer could occupy these 

 slopes, instead of the few hundred now to be found, but with the 

 present numbers of the large timber-inhabiting coyotes, which are 

 constantly prowding for fawns, there can be no rapid increase of such 

 game animals. 



Fig, 4. — Head of mule deer killed on 

 Huckleberry Mountain. A perfectly 

 normal head of buck witb doubly 

 forked antlers, large ears, and- strongly 

 contrasted face markings. 



