FOREST AND STREAM 
379 
brought about by the conditions then prevailing. 
It having become known that elk were being 
captured in the Yellowstone Park and shipped 
to different parts of the country, numerous re¬ 
quests of all kinds began pouring into the de¬ 
partment. Favorable action on all of these ap¬ 
plications was out of the question, because if 
they had been granted the herd would have been 
so diminished as to seriously affect its future 
welfare. Then again, it would not be wise to 
dispose of them promiscuously. 
It thus became imperative that regulations of 
some sort be adopted to govern the distribution 
of these animals, and those promulgated, with 
the aid of the Biological Survey of the Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture, have proven quite satis¬ 
factory. 
In a recent recommendation from the acting 
superintendent of the park, Lieut. Col. L. M. 
Brett, U. S. A., he voiced the opinion that 800 
young elk could yearly be taken from the park 
herd without injuring it in any way, a census of 
last spring showing it to consist of 32,229 animals. 
This has been fixed as the number to be allotted 
each year, and their removal will tend to not 
only keep the park herd within bounds, but will 
also make possible the establishment of new 
herds in other parts of the country. So eagerly 
are the elk sought that at this writing the limit 
has practically been reached as to those to be 
disposed of during the fiscal year 1913-14. 
It is the policy of the Interior Department to 
give these animals only to the authorities of 
Federal, state and county preserves, not more 
than fifty to each in any one year, and to permit 
them to be shipped to only those states having 
laws which protect elk during all seasons of the 
year. A number, however, are granted to zo¬ 
ological gardens under municipal ownership, but 
none is allowed to private parties. No charge is 
made for the elk, but the recipient is required to 
pay all expense of capture and transportation. 
Where only a few of the animals are shipped, 
it is necessary to crate each separately and 
transport them by express, the cost amounting to 
about $15 for each, f. o. b. cars at Gardiner, 
Montana, while in large bunches an ordinary 
cattle car is used, and they can be put on board 
the cars at Gardiner for about $5 each. As many 
as -forty have been carried in a single car, but it 
appears that this is too many, and better success 
has been had where only twenty-five or thirty 
were assigned to a car. The regulations provide 
that forty yearlings may be shipped in a thirty- 
six-foot car; in all other cases the number to be 
limited to twenty-five. It is also required that 
the lower part of the car be covered with burlap 
or some similar material to screen the elk from 
view and prevent them from being disturbed at 
stations en route, and that the inside be padded 
to a height equal to the shoulders of the animals. 
In shipping a carload it is always advisable to 
have a man in attendance who is familiar with 
their habits, to feed and care for them. 
Capturing the elk is a comparatively simple 
matter, and several persons in the vicinity of the 
park have become quite expert in this line. They 
have caught, or assisted in capturing, practically 
all that have been taken from the park. During 
the summer season the elk range in the hills, and 
at this time their capture is not feasible, but at 
the approach of winter and cold weather they 
descend to the lowlands and valleys to feed and 
remain there until early in the spring. The flats 
near Gardiner, Montana, afford good pasturage, 
and here, during the winter season, large herds 
are always to be seen. The elk are entrapped by 
means of a corral which is built with a gate or 
opening. Hay is so placed that the animals feed 
from the outside into the inclosure. After being- 
confined for a few days they become quite tame 
and are then transferred to the cars without 
much difficulty. 
Aside from pending allotments, a total of 777 
elk have been captured and shipped from the 
park, practically all of which were yearlings and 
two-year-olds, these being more easily and eco¬ 
nomically handled than the older animals. They 
were consigned to ranges in the following states: 
Washington, Montana, Arizona, Pennsylvania, 
California, West Virginia, Wyoming, Colorado 
and Utah. 
The earlier attempts at shipping the elk were 
not as successful as later undertakings, a greater 
number being lost in transit. This is perfectly 
natural, as in the beginning there was a lack of 
knowledge and experience as to the best methods 
to be pursued in their handling. But each subse¬ 
quent shipment has provided new and valuable 
information, until now it is possible to capture 
and transport a carload or two through to their 
destination almost without a single loss. 
Sufficient time has not elapsed in which to de¬ 
termine positively whether the transplanting of 
elk to the various preserves will prove successful 
or otherwise. From recent reports, however, it 
is apparent that the success of the undertaking in 
most instances is almost assured, considerable in¬ 
creases in the herds having been noted, particu¬ 
larly where they were liberated in country which 
was formerly their abode. In the case of some of 
the other states which received these animals, the 
range and climatic conditions being different from 
those of their natural habitat, the results at this 
time can .only be conjectured, but it is believed 
that they will ultimately meet with success to a 
limited degree at least The elk, happily, seems 
to have a faculty of adapting itself to varying 
conditions, and for this reason thousands of 
acres of otherwise waste mountain land might be 
used for perpetuating this noble animal. 
As an outcome of what was several years ago 
a distressing and deplorable situation, we may 
reasonably and confidently expect in the near 
future to see herds of Rocky Mountain elk 
throughout the country, north, east, south and 
west. , 
SIZE AND WEIGHT OF MOUNTAIN GOATS. 
Jacksonville, Ill., Feb. 27, 1914. 
Editor Forest and Stream : 
In your issue of January 17 there was an inter¬ 
esting article by Mr. W. R. Gilbert entitled 
“After Goats in the-Canadian Rockies." I have 
had no experience with Canadian goats, but I 
have seen much of the Rocky Mountain variety, 
which I take differs in no essential from his neigh¬ 
bor to the north. There were two or three state¬ 
ments in the article mentioned with which I can 
hardly agree. First with regard to the goat wait¬ 
ing until his pursuer is close, then making a fran¬ 
tic dash past with lowered horns and bristling 
hair. I would hardly accept this as a habit. My 
experience leads me to hold that he usually has 
more than one way out and only rarely gets so 
Mr. Gilbert further says that the females as 
a rule grow longer horns than the males, but 
the horns of the former are never symmetrical 
and smooth and are usually turned over at the 
tips like a chamois. I cannot at all agree with 
this. I would say that the horns of the males 
.ire the longer and larger. Further that the horns 
of the females are usually very symmetrical and 
far smoother than those of the males, not being 
so large, but much sharper, finer and turned at the 
tips as Mr. Gilbert says. Indeed so clearly has 
the difference in shape, the smoothness, etc., ap¬ 
peared to me that it seems to me one ought to 
be able to tell the male from the female by the 
horns alone, at least in adults. I have a fine male 
head, with horns measuring 10% inches in length. 
As to weight I have often wondered what a big 
billy really weighed. L. O. VAUGHT. 
Are These to Follow the Buffalo? 
