I56 NINTH REPORT OF THE 



the loss was not as great as it otherwise would have been. But in view of the 

 law passed in the winter of 1902-03, which prohibits the sale of Grouse that are 

 taken in this State, which law was very generally observed during the past open 

 season, there is every reason to believe that Grouse will again become plentiful 

 in the Adirondack region. 



No little dissatisfaction is being manifested in regard to the private parks and 

 preserves that have been created in localities where the State has planted millions 

 of fish for the benefit of the public. The park owners are waging war on the 

 natives as well as on the tourists, who both feel that their rights are being 

 trampled upon, and that the park owner has no more property interests in 

 fish that migrate from one water to another than has the general public who 

 contribute towards maintaining the State hatcheries. 



Tl)e Wild Animals. 



With reference to the Elk that have been liberated in the Adirondacks since 

 the summer of 1901, I can say that they have done extremely well, and, in fact, 

 much better than was expected by those who expressed an opinion relative to 

 the matter. The first shipment, comprising twenty-two Elk, donated the State by 

 Hon. William C. Whitney in 1901, that were liberated in the vicinity of Raquette 

 Lake, went through the first winter without any loss and came out in fine con- 

 dition the next spring, much to the surprise of every one, and several calves were 

 found with them in the early summer, showing that they were breeding fully as 

 well as the Adirondack Deer. 



The three carloads of Elk that were donated by Mr. Whitney in the fall of 

 1902, forty of which were liberated in the vicinity of Little Tupper Lake and 

 'twenty at Raquette Lake, wintered equally as well as those the previous winter, 

 and the seventy-three liberated during the past summer near Paul Smith's, 

 Saranac Inn and Saranac Lake, except a few that have been killed by cars, have 

 done well and are now reported as having gone back into the deep forest, where 

 they should have been liberated instead of turning them loose near the settlement 

 and railroad. 



It is safe to say that there are now 180 Elk in the Adirondacks, not including 

 many that escaped from Mr. Webb's park by reason of a fire having destroyed 

 the fences, or those that have escaped from time to time from Mr. Litchfield's 

 preserves near Big Tupper Lake. 



