Dec. It, 1891.J 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



427 



GAME IN THE YELLOWSTONE. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Dec. 10. - 

 Editor Forest and Stream: Our summer's gone 

 long ago. Wiuter is here, and with it everything settles 

 down for a long rest. The game can now travel the 

 wagon Toads and trails; even look into the hotel windows 

 without being disturbed. It ia now the turn of the 

 animals to enjoy themselves and go on sight seeing and 

 pleasure excursions. The other day a party of blacktail 

 deer came to the Hot Springs to see the captive elk and 

 other animals in the wire inclosure. They walked up 

 and down one side for some time, looking at the animals 

 and trying to get into where they could get a better view 

 of the elk, deer and foxes. They showed more curiosity 

 than the usual visitors who have never seen captives 

 before. Tuey walked about the old camp grounds, then 

 up over ''the formation" out of sight in the timber. Even 

 the coyotes call on the captive foxes in the evenings and 

 unite with them in giving us a prairie concert, sometimes 

 ending in a fight. I believe the coyotes would kill the 

 foxes were it not for the boxes in which the foxes can 

 bide and "stand off ' their enemies. Since the two ante- 

 lope were killed last summer the elk and deer have been 

 shut up nights to keep them away from any night 

 prowler witu a taste for tender meat. 



All the animals are soon to be shipped to the National 

 Zoological Park, Washington, D. C. There are two 

 black bears, Johnnie ami Sue; two elk, Rain-in-the-face 

 and Billy; one blacktail deer, Liura; three foxes, one 

 beaver, two porcu- 

 pines, one eaglf , one 

 odprey. A few nights 

 ago the beaver es- 

 caped from his tin- 

 lined box. It was 

 supposed that he 

 would make for the 

 nearest water, and 

 follow down stream 

 to Grardmer Rivtr: 

 but when found he 

 •was up on the Hot 

 Spring terraces, 

 where McCartney 

 U3ed to coat speci- 

 mens. Aichough 

 somewhat crippled, 

 and having the use 

 of only one forefoot, 

 he had tunneled into 

 the Hoc Spring de- 

 posit several feet; 

 he was all covert d 

 with white forma- 

 tion, and was '"work- 

 ing like a beaver'' 

 when recaptured. If 

 he works as hard in 

 his "Washington 

 quarsers he will soon 

 have a comfortable 

 home there. 



All the animals 

 are in tine condition. 

 The elk and deer are 

 as large a^ those run- 

 ning wild, the beaver 

 and fuxes are even 

 larger and falter 

 than those of the 

 same age in a. fr^e 

 ^tale, showing how 

 well they have been 

 cared for by Private 

 Welch, their soldier 

 attendant. 



The capture of 

 these animals was 



volunteer work on my part, and represent only part of 

 the total number captured. Two elk died, two antelope 

 were killed, one bear escaped, and another was killed 

 and eaten by a larger one while chained up to a post at 

 Yancey'ri. One beaver drowned himself while in a trap? 

 Not much use mentioning four muskrats that would get 

 into the traps set for beaver. A great many full-grown 

 bears could have been captured in the Park during the 

 summer if we had had suitable cages to keep them in. 

 A full-grown wild grizzly when first trapped will make 

 auoh dsspera te eff orts to escape that no 'ordinary cage 

 would hold one five minutes. They will smash through 

 very heavy planks and timbers of native lumber. Even 

 a common lynx will go through an inch board. Nothing 

 but hard wood and iron will hold them. 



Of late years a number of bears have made a practice 

 of living about the hotels and camps in the Park. They 

 are becoming "paratites" or bruin tramps, taking what 

 they want, makmg no effort for self-support, and living 

 on the table waste, They are "hog robbers," no longer 

 worthy a sportsman's attention. One very large bsar at 

 the Upper Greyser Basin Hotel is as regular about coming 

 to his meals as a "star boarder." Once when the yard 

 man vv'as taking a large piece of waste meat to the pig 

 pen, bruin met him in the trail. The yard man, not at 

 all frightened, hela out the meat. The bear walked up, 

 took it from his hand, went to one side a short distance, 

 and ate the grub as unconcerned as though it was the 

 proper thing to have bis meals brought to him. The bears 

 get in. the pens, eat with the pigs, or rather drive them to 

 one side and eat what they want. I believe but one hog 

 has been killed by them the past summer. At the 

 slaughter house in Swan Lake Basin, at least nine bears 

 live on t!ie refuse which is thrown to the hogs. They get 

 into the pen, quarrel with the pigs, cuff them out of the 

 way, often making them squeal -with pain, and fight each 

 other, the big ones driving the othors off. So far they 

 have not attempted to kill any of the pigs or sheep that 

 are corraled near by every night. The herder and butcher 

 have become so used to the bears that they do not fear 

 them much, except when they meet them after dark: 

 then they are willing to give £alf the road. There are 

 about twenty-five bears who are living about this way 

 during the season: they are in color black, brown, grizzly- 

 gray and cinnamon. 



- All game appears to have increased in and about the 

 Park. Even the mountain lions are more numerous; 

 more hava been stea this fall than for years past. As he 



was pulling- into oamp on L<ittle Specimen Creek a freighter 

 on the Cooke City road saw a very large lion cross the 

 road and enter a thick bunch of willows fifty yards from 

 Avhere he camped. His dog would bark at the brush, but 

 would not enter. Going in he found an elk had been 

 killed and buried. The lion had taken one meal. When 

 the man returned a few days later the elk was all gone: 

 nothing but bones remained to mark the cache. Another 

 elk killed by a lion was found on Upper Soda Butte Creek 

 a short time ago. These animals must kill quite a num- 

 ber of elk, deer and sheep during the year; I tiarenoidea 

 how many there are in the Park: the number may be 

 anywhere from ten to fifty or even a hundred. 



The Grovernment scout, Felix Burgess, was out looking 

 up the buff ilo. He succeeded in finding seven bands, 

 three on Nez Perces Creek, four in Hayden Valley or 

 Alum Creek country, where they mostly winter. He re- 

 ports the largest of the bands to number about 100, the 

 next in sixe about 7o, while the smallest has about 20 in 

 all; bethinks there are not less than 350. He did not 

 succeed in locating the buff ilo that are known to range 

 on the east side of the Yellowstone, where they have 

 often been seen in summer by members of the Geological 

 Survey, and in winter by Scout Willson. All the buffalo 

 are well toward the center of the reservation, where they 

 can be pi'otected from poachers and specimen hunters. 

 This is importa,nt, as |1,000 spot cash has been offered by 

 Eistern parties for three specimens (head and hides) three 

 years old or over— quite an inducement for any one to kill 



vents his men covering as much couatiy as he would 

 like. Since the new Forest Reserve has been placed 

 under his control he has a section of country 69 miles 

 north and south by 73 miles east and west, almost 5,000 

 square miles to look after, to keep down the fires and 

 protect the game. This whole section, with hundreds of 

 square miles about it, is without settlements, and is a 

 rough, mountainous and timbered country. The parties 

 who are doing the poaching are well known to the 

 officers, and like the pitcher that goes too often to the 

 well, will get taken in some day. Occasionally some one 

 gets inside the Park line, kills an elk, and is out at once. 

 A few days ago the sergeant stationed at Soda Butte 

 found a camp of this kind with the elk meat hanging up 

 in the trees, but cordd not find the men. He brought the 

 whole camp to Fort Yellowstone and tui-ned it over to 

 the commanding officer. 



The troop stationed here have been moved to their new 

 quarters; all the buildings are well designed and com- 

 fortable; they are much more attractive than the old 

 rough structures at Camp Sheridan. 



I must not forget to mention the fish planted by the 

 U. S. Fish Commission in 1889 and '90. I find all the 

 plants doing well, much better than many expected. In 

 October I saw trout rise to the surface in Shoshone Lake. 

 These were lake trout, planted in 1890, I saw several 

 others a short distance out in the lake as I was riding 

 along the shore, they looked to be about 6in. long; and in 

 a beaver dam on Heron Creek I saw a few more, the 



IN THE SAWTOOTH RANGE. 

 From a pliotograiili by Mr. F. Braght, of New Vork, 



the animals wanted if they could get them out of the ' dam was about one and a half miles from the lake. 



While looking for 

 beaver sign along 

 Nez Perces Creek, I 

 saw a native black 

 spotted trout at least 

 loin. long. Several 

 fish of this kind and 

 size were seen by 

 Capt, Edwards's men 

 while camped on 

 the creek last sum- 

 mer. How these fish 

 got into Nez Perces 

 Creek I am unable 

 to learn. Von Behr 

 trout were planted 

 there by the U, S. 

 Fish Commission; if 

 there are many of 

 the large trout seen 

 by myself and others 

 they will prove des- 

 tructive to the small 

 ones planted. Sev- 

 eral of the plant 

 were seen during 

 the summer; they 

 were about 6in, long. 

 I did not succeed in 

 finding any in Oc- 

 tober. Poss'ibly they 

 were higher up the 

 creek than where I 

 looked ; neither could 

 1 find nor learn of 

 any of the whitefish 

 planted in the Yel- 

 lowstone above the 

 falls. Another thing 

 about this fish, I have 

 never seen one up as 

 far as the mouth of 

 Hellroaring Creek, 

 I have inquired of 

 most every one who 

 has fished the Yel- 

 lowstone in the Park 

 if they ever caught a 

 whitefish or saw one 

 in the Yellowstone, or its I ranches above the mouth of 

 Hellroaring, I could leam of nothing hut trout being 

 taken or seen. 



I saw several small fish in the Fire Hole River below 

 the Lower Geyser Basin. I think they were young of 

 the Loch Leven trout, planted above Keppler's Falls, 3* 

 miles above Old Faithful. No fish were planted by the 

 Commission in 1891, Prof. Everman, Asst. U. S. Fish 

 Commissioner, Prof. .Jenkins, of Bloomington, Ind., and 

 Mr. Lapham were out on a twenty days trip looking over 

 the country, with a view to the establishment of a fish 

 hatchery, investigating the condition of the various 

 plants made in 1889-'90 and doing much pcientific work 

 connected with the fish interest in the Park. 



Prof. Forbes, of Champaign, III., spent a few days here 

 completing the work commenced last year — a scientific 

 investigation of the fish food supi^ly. 



The snow is considerably deeper here now than last 

 year a month later. We also had a cold snap in Novem- 

 ber; the thermometer registered at the Hot Springs — Iti", 

 at Soda Butte — 28" and in other parts of the Park as 

 low as —32°. H, 



New York Association. — The first meeting of this 

 season of the New York Association for the Protection Of 

 Game was held last Monday evening. The president, 

 Hon, Robert B. Roosevelt, entertained the club at dinner, 

 after which the regular business of the Association was 

 transacted. The counsel, Mr. Thos. N. Cuthbert, reported 

 that their suit against the Hotel Brunswick for serving 

 grouse out of season had been brought to a successful 

 end by the payment of the full amount claimed by the 

 Association. The suit against Murello had not been 

 reached, neither had the suit against Keyser. A com- 

 mittee was appointed to draw up propei-" resolutions of 

 regret at the loss of their late member Clinton Gilbert, 

 at one time president of the Association, and for many 

 years a regular attendant at their meel ingp. A unani- 

 mous resolution was passed thanking Dr. Kirhi for his 

 services in bringing ofi'enders against the gsme laws in 

 this Histrict to justice. "More power to his elbow." — 

 W. H. 



Tf your shooting friend does not read Forest and Stkeam 

 wh]i not ijicii him a Christ mm present and don little mirn'ouarf/ 

 work at the savie iioic bii svJjscriMitg to tin: po per for him.. Jt 

 will fjic<- hi) -I i.-irr;.:-!, ,v fftii-imo tiiiici K jjefir. JJo you reuli'-e 

 (hat ne.rl i - imy yon 1064 of tiiese- Ing Ixtf/eSj and o!:, 



of iJu'iii ' ■ e'-'rHiime, DKuily .ipiivt. 



Park. There is little danger of our bufl:alo getting out- 

 side the reservation lines this winter. Soldiers are sta- 

 tioned at the Lower Geyser Basin, Norriaand Soda Butte; 

 then there are the watchmen at the hotels; anrl frequent 

 snowshoe scouting parties will be sent out from Fort 

 Yellowstone at the Mammoth Hot Springs. If all are 

 vigilant no one can get near the bufl'alo without being 

 seen, 



Mr. . Burgess tells of elk by the thousand. He says 

 they are very numerous in Hayden Valley and the open 

 country along Pelican Creek. He also tells of the famili- 

 arity of the foxes, who stole his belt from under his 

 head, and one in daylight stole his riding bridle; he had 

 to chase the bold thief quite a way to recover the bridle. 

 I suppose the foxes are no tamer nor more impudent 

 here than elsewhere. Yet I have known them to cut the 

 strings off a saddle within two feet of the head of the 

 sleeping owner, to steal bridles and straps, cut harness 

 and rob the mess box. I have had them come within a 

 few feet of the camp-fire while several men were stand- 

 ing around. They are often as tame here as Indian dogs 

 when no other dogs are about. 



The mountain sheep and antelope have returned to Mt. 

 Evarts and the Gardiner Gallon, coming down on the 

 flat, in sight of the town, to their winter camp ground. 

 A year ago last winter, it is said by parties who wintered 

 in Jackson's Hole, south of the Park, several thousand 

 elk starved to death in that section of the country. My 

 informant says that the ranchmen had to camp by their 

 haystack every night after the snow got deep to keep the 

 elk out of the hay yards. D :>gs were of no use, for they 

 would get at the hay in spite of dogs or fences. He 

 killed twelve elk one day in going eight miles. They 

 were so poor and weak that they could not get up even 

 when he tried to help them with his snowshoe pole; he 

 killed them to end their misery. In the spring he dragged 

 off his meadow over one hundred dead elk. Other ranch- 

 men had to haul away from their ranches, meadows and 

 stock yards hundreds of elk. One man threw into a 

 stream 200 taken from 1 60 acres of land. That same 

 winter — 1889-9C — I found very few carcases in the north- 

 ern part of the Park: the elk^got very thin and quite a 

 number died; but not more than were to be expected. 

 List winter was very open; game could live anywhere 

 and do well. This winter promises to bo rather hard. 



There has been some hunting in the Park this summer 

 and fall. The limited number of men at the disposal of 

 the acting- superintendent who can be used as scouts pre.- 



