..• A GAME COUNTRY WITHOUT RIVAL IN AMERICA 



77 



of them compares with the area within 

 the limits of the new game preserve. 



The mountains at the head of Toklat 

 and Teklanika rivers literally swarm with 

 the magnificent white bighorn sheep, 

 which are elsewhere extremely wary and 

 difficult to approach, but which in sum- 

 mer are here so little disturbed that they 

 move off only when one comes to close 

 range. A day's travel along one of these 

 valleys will usually afford the casual trav- 

 eler a view of many bands of sheep. 

 The sheep range on the lower slopes of 

 the mountains, especially in the upper 

 reaches of the streams, near the glaciers 

 at the valley heads, or even in the valley 

 bottoms. 



I have counted over 300 in a single 

 day's journey of 10 miles along the river 

 bars, and doubtless as many more were 

 unobserved in the tributary valleys be- 

 yond my view. From a single point at 

 my tent door one evening I counted nine 

 bands of sheep, containing in all 171 ani- 

 mals. 



The bighorn sheep prefers the slopes 

 of high, rough mountains for its range, 

 and may be found only in the mountains, 

 within easy reach of rugged crags, to 

 which it may retreat for safety from its 

 enemies. Its range, therefore, lies be- 

 tween timber-line and the level of per- 

 petual snow. It is difficult to make an 

 accurate estimate of the number of sheep 

 within the new park, but in the part that 

 we visited there are easily 5,000 sheep, 

 their range extending westward through- 

 out the mountainous portion of the park. 



THOUSANDS OF CARIBOU EVERYWHERE 



I remember well my first big day for 

 caribou. The pack-train had gone ahead 

 to pitch camp at a prearranged spot near 

 the last spruce timber on the main Tok- 

 lat, and I was examining the rocks a few 

 miles east of the camping place. Herds 

 of sheep were scattered along the ridges, 

 some feeding on the tender grasses, some 

 sleeping in the sun. I was far above 

 timber-line and my view was ' unob- 

 structed for miles in all directions. With 

 my glass I had already counted half a 

 dozen solitary caribou, all young bulls, 

 grazing among the stunted willows of the 

 stream flats. 



Soon my attention was attracted by a 

 sight unusual in this district — a fright- 

 ened caribou bull, which was running 

 from the direction in which my pack- 

 train had gone. Soon two yearlings came 

 rushing from the same quarter ; then a 

 cow and a young calf in full flight, the 

 cow with tongue out and sides heaving 

 and the calf following closely, but in no 

 apparent distress. Then more came, 

 singly or in twos and threes. Soon a lone 

 calf, lost from its mother, passed close to 

 me, uttering plaintive grunts. As I ap- 

 proached the main river valley from 

 which the frightened animals came, I met 

 the main herd, twenty-five or more, walk- 

 ing slowly up a narrow gulch a hundred 

 yards from me, and apparently unwor- 

 ried by the presence of strangers on their 

 range. 



During the next few days I saw more 

 caribou than I dreamed existed in any 

 one locality, including a herd of 200 

 which was viewed at close range on the 

 Toklat bars. In the pass between Toklat 

 and Stony rivers the two pack-trains and 

 eight men stood in the midst of a vast 

 herd, scattered for miles in all directions. 



CARIBOU AVOID THE MOSQUITO PLAINS 



We counted with the naked eye over a 

 thousand within half a mile of us, and 

 hundreds of others could be seen too far 

 away for accurate count. In order not to 

 exaggerate, even to ourselves, we esti- 

 mated the number in sight at one time as 

 1,500, and I believe that this is an under- 

 statement of the number actually there. 

 Most of them were cows and calves or 

 yearlings, but there were a few old bulls, 

 conspicuous for their towering horns. 

 During the following week we constantly 

 saw herds of caribou, some of them num- 

 bering hundreds. 



Most of these herds were on the bare 

 gravel bars, where the strong winds af- 

 ford some relief from the attacks by flies 

 and mosquitos. Other herds were high 

 on rugged mountain ridges, and several 

 large droves were observed far up on the 

 glaciers, well toward snow-line, seeking a 

 little respite from insect pests. 



In other parts of Alaska caribou at 

 times appear in huge droves as they mi- 

 grate from place to place, but they stay 



