HABITS OF ELK. 17 



force apart even strongly fastened rails. The difficulty is, of course, 

 increased by the tendency of drifts to form about high objects like 

 haystacks. High fences of woven wire would doubtless prove much 

 more effective than the rail fences in common use, but the initial cost 

 of this fencing and the difficulties of transportation have prevented 

 its adoption. Many settlers, despairing of fencing the starving 

 animals from the hay needed for their stock, are forced to sleep beside 

 the stacks during much of the whiter, a task which is not conducive 

 to a tolerant view of the situation. 



HABITS IX WINTER. 



The life of the elk during a winter so severe as that of 1910-11 is a 

 constant struggle to preserve existence. Following the path of least 

 resistance, the majority of the animals, including most of the young 

 calves, find themselves in the valley, where they are soon driven to 

 browse on the willows and other shrubs already nearly destroyed 

 during previous winters. The elk soon eat the smaller twigs and 

 then are forced by hunger to attack the bark and larger branches. 

 The woody fiber thus swallowed has little nutriment and is without 

 doubt actually injurious, especially to the younger animals. Even 

 sagebrush is drawn on for sustenance. Haystacks about ranches 

 are, of course, eagerly sought. If insecurely fenced, they are soon 

 at the mere} 7, of the starving animals, which frequently die from 

 overfeeding. When they find the stacks securely fenced, large 

 numbers die immediately around them. The larger animals by 

 standing on their hind legs may be able to reach a few morsels of hay, 

 while the 3 T oung calves in the group are trampled by their larger 

 associates and perish miserably. ' 



Many herds, composed mainly of adults of both sexes, sometimes 

 accompanied by a few calves, remain on the open hillsides and among 

 the aspen and spruce woods of the mountain slopes. Although 

 there is usually some mortality among these herds, they fare better on 

 the average than those which seek the valleys, since they are in 

 smaller bands and have a larger proportion of older and experienced 

 animals. Besides securing some withered grass, they browse on the 

 twigs and bark of the aspen poplar and to a less extent on the spruces. 

 Any brush left by woodchoppers is eaten at night, as the animals are 

 freely nocturnal. Some of these bands make forays to the valleys at 

 feeding time or during the night and return to the hills to rest. 



WINTER MORTALITY OF ELK. 



Apart from the death of elk from actual starvation, there is, of 

 course, the normal mortality, most of which takes place in winter, 

 when the conditions surrounding the animals are hardest. Even in 



