14 MAMMALS OF UTAH 



Distribution — Formerly the elk was spread over the 

 prreater part of the United States, though early records for 

 Utah are unavailable. The only elk indigenous to Utah are 

 seven head known to be on the Uinta division of the Wa- 

 satch national forest. Two large bulls have ranged near 

 Kamas for some time. 



Elk have been imported from Wyoming with great suc- 

 cess. B. E. Mattsson of Ephraim informs me that there 

 are fifty elk on the Manti forest. At first they were placed 

 in Cottonwood canyon near Orangeville; but some of them 

 have drifted to the Fishlake district. Theodore Seeholser 

 of Logan, Utah, says that there are six wild elk far back 

 in the mountains above Logan, in Blacksmith Fork canyon ; 

 it is possible that they are indigenous. C. A. Mattsson of; 

 Salina says that the elk imported from Wyoming to the 

 Fishlake district have now increased to 58 head. A. W. 

 Jensen of Provo estimates that there are 145 elk in the 

 Uinta National forest. L. F. Kneipp, District Forester, 

 Ogden, Utah, says that during 1917 the transplanted elk in 

 Utah increased from a total of 299 to 327. 



Professor Marcus E. Jones reports to me that in 1888 

 the elk were so numerous on LaMott's Peak in Uinta that 

 they tramped down the grass in the subalpine basin. The 

 next year he heard bull elk fighting near Hayden's Fork of 

 the Bear river. 



Habits — When at the beginning of the last century, 

 millions of buffaloes and elk reigned supreme over the plains 

 and mountainous regions of North America, few hunters 

 could foresee the extermination of the vast herds of wild 

 game about them, in the lifetime of their children. To- 

 day, however, there are few if any wild buffaloes, and the 

 homesteader is gradually crowding the few remaining bands 

 of elk out of their winter feeding grounds. A tragedy of 

 nature is being enacted with the curtain" almost ready to 

 fall on the last scene. 



The haven of the elks, today, is Yellowstone Park in 

 summer and Jackson's Hole, Wyoming, in winter. In the 

 spring, the cows graze along the rich, low valleys, while 

 the bulls seek the higher plateaus. The calves, usually one 

 though sometimes two or even three to a cow, are born in 

 May ; and for the first few days the mother hides her little 

 ones in bushes. There each lies as if a log, its unwinking 

 bright eyes taking in every movement of the intruder but 

 its tiny body remaining perfectly still. Its big white spots 

 resemble patches of sunlight midst dark shade and thus are 

 a protection, not a disclosure. 



