Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1888-05-12
THE ELK OF THE ROCKIES.
A BIG MONARCH OF THE ELE-
WAITED FOREST soLITUDEs
His Great Size and POnderous Ant
lers- An Elk Yard Dangers
Which Menace the Elk

hich Menace he Elk
A Fort keogh Montana correspond
ent Of the Chicago I'm writes The
largest and most eagerly sought Of all
game ANIMALS in the Northwest Of TO
day is that monarch Of mountain soli-
tudes and king Of elevated forests. the
true Rocky Mountain elk
Elk n this country grow 70 an enor
nous ze. The true Eocky Mountain
blue eli has pot the wcblike antlers of
the me sse, but rather the clean cute
delicate fashioned handsome headeear
OF the mule deer. only on a more ponder
Gus scale. 1t is truly astonishing how
neatly and cleverly these big fl,low,
handle the fifty to sixty pounds Of heavy
weight sproutIne from their heads 1t
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 hoir hroadest
diameter is reached. something like four-
teen pronCs 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 growing plants, ozone Of the at
mosphere, and everything else combined
! all tend to give them a bodily bulk
which they seem to attain nowhere 4 c
on the known globe. Their ordinary
size, however. is a little larger than the
common American horse. With pro
gression from the hindquarter, up to the
| fOreshouders. somewhat on the principle
Of giraffe. The extreme length from
nose to tail is from to = feet, between
| 8 and : feet from the foreshouldef to the
! ground; weight all the way from $50 to
1900 pounds AMI with a head on each
''crtter' like a barrel \ short neck
/ and long forelfgs prevent these animals
! from feeding OF browsing on the ground
| SO as matter Of course an elk must look
| high for food. With this Their upper
/ lips are elongated and car able of max
J ing decided twist when necessary, so
, that they can pu down slender branches
from above, hold the same with the fore
| foot, and with the greatest ease strip OFT
the bark, leaves and twlgs
An experienced woodsman will be able
/ to follow an elk for miles by closely
observing the trall-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 Rocky Mou4tain chain in this
latitude hunters often run across, in
their most isolated places, what are
called e'k yards
An elk yard is clearing in the woods
where the snow is troddcn down within
i certain circular spa e, and here are
usually to be found father, mother,
and fawns A family is seldom more
than the two adults and 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 birth 10
more than two fawns III her life, and
these she keeps clos ly tied to her apron.
strings until about the third year. It IS
a great rarity to meet young e.k.
nearly all being of full size when cncoun
tered by hunters, as the youngsters are
Kept >ecreted away III the deepest re-
cesses Of forest until they are nresnm
ably old enough to care for themselves.
1t is astonishing how quietly and easily
these bulky quadrupeds can make thor
way through dense th'ckcts and
tanolgd underbrush. Flks may be
decidedlv cowardly, but again they
are remarkably cunning. for when
pursued or frightened they quick i
throw their heads ha edward resting
their antlers close to the shoulders and
in this curious position 20 tearing through
forests and thickets at railroad spccd
without ever being caught or impedod II
the slightest degree 1t is a we'll known
fact, too, that their stepping powers II
one particular far exceed that Of an!
biped or quadrupcd N existence Wher
on the alert they will pass swiftly an
quietly through piece of timber cove ef
thick with undergrowth or fallen matte
and vet never so much as disturb a twl9
or rustle leaf in their progress All re
rorls 90 10 show that there az this sea
son 10 the Yellowstone Tark and amon4
} the Wild surroundings Of the Crea
! national reservation more elk than 70
many years previous. In the park lrope
thcy are positively on 'he increase Th
saving laws, enacted to- lat. - spare th'
; bison. were inst in time t, sac ,he- {!
! AMI IN conse ,ncnce, stating u Tho pat
, at the Mammoth hit slr.n-s AMI the
following III the lellov-teae Is "a a
the la>e. after tr>t kin Noin
! Eyarts. we nd many bands ck ~.
tered all through fh timber nj i. -,
I enjoying their llve, ia leteo uaael IL
careful guardian ship e CAPT. Iiarro- 4
the ~ United state Ca.a!rv. 0ha ! z
present Supervising -urreme controi W.
g the H175 >4uare miles eusisa 81 n9tln
= this nj rfui aud charmed re- on II
; only danger meeacln- them raH com.
G from oh iengf rafGss . II aaArra', s
: the same locality >"me''mc~ A.
I :. tyr