The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1888-05-16
THE ELK OF THE ROCKIES,
A BIG MONARCH OF THE ELE
WAITED FOREST SoLITUDES.
His Great Size and Ponderous Ant
lcrs- An Elk Yard - Dangers
Which Menace the Elk.

game animals in the Northwest oil to-
dav is that monarch of mountain soli-
tudes and king of elevated forests, the
true Rocky Mountain elk.
Elk in this country grow to an enor-
nous size. The true Rocky Mountain
blue elk has not the weblike antlers OF
the moose but rather the clean cut,
delicate fashioned, handsome headgear
of the mule deer, only on a more ponder
ous scale. 1t is truly astonishing how
neatly and cleverly these big fellows |
handle the fifty to sixty pounds of heavy |
weight sprouting from their heads. IT |
takes five years for the horns to attain |
their full length, but after that the |
dimension runs all to width, and they |
keep on expanding until their broadest !
diameter is reached, something like four |
teen prongs or branches being produced.
Elk in this latitude average larger in |
size than either to the north south, east
or west of us. The foothill shrubbery,
high-grow,ny plants, ozone of the at
mospherc, and everything else combined
all tend to give them bodily bulk
which they seem TO attain nowhere else
on the known globe. Their ordinary
size, however, is little larger than the
common American horse, with pro-
gression from the headquarters up to the
foreshoulders, somewhat on the principle
of giraffe The extreme length from
nose to tail is from to I feet, between
and Z feet from the foreshoulder to the
ground; weight all the way from 800 to
1900 pounds, an with a head on each
''critter" like barrel. A short neck
and long forelegs prevent these animals
t., IyN5t-ci,,rr on ba frrnrtp6
so as a matter of course an elk must look
high for food With this their upper
lips are elongated and capable of max
ing a decided twist when necessary, so
that they can pull down slender branches
from above hold the same with the fore
foot, and with the greatest ease strip off
the bark leaves and twigs
An experienced woodsman will be able
to follow an elk for miles by closely
observing the trail-not by scanning the
ground in the usual way, but by looking
above among the twigs and branches.
In the Big Horn montains, among the
elevated forests of Yellowstone park,
and in fact all through the various spurs
of the Pocky Mountain chain in this
/ latitude hunters often run across, in
their most isolated places, what are
called c k-yards
An elk-yard is a clearing in the woods
where the snow is trodden down within
a certain circular space, and here are
usually to be found father, mother,
and fawns. A family is seldom more
than the two adults and n pair of fawns.
Elk do not by any means breed in litters,
like some other wild animals we know
of, as the female seldom gives bilth to
more than two fawns in her life, and
these she keeps clos ly tied to her apron
strings until about the third year. 1t is
great rarity to meet young elk,
nearly all being Of full size when encoun-
tered by hunters as the youngsters are
kept secreted away in the deepest re-
cesses of forest until they are presum-
ably old enough to care for themselves.
1t is astonishing how quietly and easily
these b ilky quadrupeds can make their
way through dense thckets and
tangled underbrush. Elks may be
decidedly cowardly, but again they
J are remarkably cunning. for when
throw their hea Is backward, resting
their antlers close to the shoulders, and
in this curious position go tearing through
10 tSlS anu lil!NhtlS dl ldilIOdu SpttAl
without ever being caught or impeded in
the slightest degree. 1t is a well known
fact, too, that their stepping powers in
one particular far exceed that of any
biped or quadruped in existence. When
on the alert they will pass swiftly and
quietly through piece of timber covered
thick with undergrowth or fallen matter
and yet never SO much as disturb a twig
or rustic a leaf in their progress. All re-
ports go to show that there are this sea-
son in the Yellowstone Park and among
the wild surroundings of the great
national reservation more elk than for
many years previous. In the park proper
they are positively on the increase. The
saving laws, enacted too late to spare the
bison, were Just in time to save the elk,
and in consequence, starting in the park
at the Mammoth hot springs and then
following up the Yellowstone as far as
the lake, after first taking in Mount
Evarts, we find many bands of elk scat
tered all through the timber, and at last
enjoying their lives in peace under the
careful guardianship of Capt. Harris, OF
the lst United States cavalry, who is at
present supervising supreme control over
the 1915 square miles embraced within
this wonderful and charmed region. Tie
only danger me1acing them now comes
from other dangerous wild animals of
the same locality. Sometimes an elk
will get stuck in the snow, and then he
is virtually at the mercy of mountain
lions aud wolves, who simply swarm all
through the park.
The operator of telephones relates that
lately while making his rounds through
the park he came suddenly upon one big
fellow at Willow creek, who, in his
fright, sprang ont upon an open spot in
the creek, but missing his calculation
sank out Of sight in the snow which
rose up in high walls all around him.
The animal finally managed to walIow
out of the snow-trGp, and only managed
to make his escape after considerable
expenditure of time and energy. Here
was chance for "A nimble.footed noun
tain lion, and 10 doubt many such cases
occur where the elk must fall a victim to
this fierce beast of prey. On the out
skirts Of the park, in the SweetwateT
country, along Stinkingwater creek,
among the Soda Buttes, Hoodoo noun
tains, and TO the south and west Of the
park proper in the Shoshone region and
the locality of Henry's lake, are also
many bands of elk which are only spared
from destruction by the territorial laws
I craufa1 fftv tbpir salvation Never