PROTECTION AND PROPAGATION OF WILD LIFE 465 



The Propagation of Wild Life. — Besides the efforts that have 

 been made to protect wild life, attempts are constantly on foot 

 to increase the number of birds and mammals. The introduc- 

 tion of foreign species is unnecessary, since our native animals 

 will restock the country if given the opportunity. Furthermore, 

 foreign animals often become pests when introduced, for ex- 

 ample, the English sparrow in the United States, the mongoose 

 in Jamaica, and the rabbit in Australia. 



The National Parks, such as the Yellowstone, Glacier, and 

 Grand Canon National Parks, have become natural refuges for 

 our persecuted game animals, since here they are fully protected. 

 " The most conspicuous of all cases of the recognition of protection 

 by wild animals is to be found in the Yellowstone Park. This 

 feeling of security is shared by nearly all the wild animals of the 

 Park, but it is most strikingly displayed by the herds of mule 

 deer, antelope, and elk that make their home near Fort Yellow- 

 stone and the Mammoth Hot Springs. In winter the mule deer 

 and antelope are fed on hay on the parade ground, as if they were 

 domestic sheep and cattle. At Ouray, Colorado, bands of moun- 

 tain sheep pose for photographs at short range, in the town, in 

 a manner that to every hunter of that wild and wary species is a 

 profound surprise. 



" The Yellowstone Park grizzlies, and black bears also, are no 

 exceptions to the general influence of peace and protection. 

 These bears are now famous for the thorough and practical 

 manner in which they have accepted protection, and for years 

 have been reaping the benefits of it. They have become con- 

 firmed grafters. They not only make daylight visits to the gar- 

 bage heaps at the hotels, but they have been known to enter 

 the hotels and walk about in them, looking for offerings of food." l 



That native animals will soon become abundant under pro- 

 tection in localities where they were once numerous may well be 

 illustrated by the restocking of Vermont with white-tailed deer. 

 " In the beginning, the people of Vermont exterminated their 



1 Hornaday, Wild Life Conservation. 



