Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-04-20
GREATEST OF HERDS.
Band of 32,ooo Elk in the Jackson's
 Hole District, Wyoming.
Carefully Protected by the Scattered Residents of the Country-Those That Stray Into Other
 States Are Killed.

the world, is the great band of elk which winters in the lowlands of Jackson's Hole district, Wyoming There are, at this writing, estimated to be some 32,OGO head of elk in the | band. The men who have given this estimate are well-known ranchers and cattlemen, or cowboys and own. l CTS of sheep and stock ranges. Their estimate comes pretty close to being ] correct one. During the severe 1 winters in Wyoming, when the elk, l driven by the bitter cold and heavy SHOWS, approach almost to their very ! doors, they have unusual opportuni. ; ties for observing this great herd of magnificent animals, reports the 1 Kansas City Star.
 l All the elk in Jackson's Hole dis trict are carefully protected by the scattered residents of the country i At present the herd is under the con- ! stant surveillance of two deputy game I wardens, while district game wardens watch the band whenever any por- ] tion of it strays into the district over i which they have authority. In the 1 summertime the herd is widely scat l tered over an extent of country the radius of which is more chan 500 miles, embracing territory of vir- ] ginal beauty and primeval grandeur
 Of those elk which enter Colorado large percentage is killed, while the few which stray into Utah fall at the hands of the Uintah Ute Indians The elk which wander too far from home arc not killed in the summer, but in l the late fall.
 By far the larger portion Of the herd which is guarded in the winter 1 in Jackson's Hole passes the summer in the timberod heights in the Teton, Gros Ventre, and Shoshone noun tains, the Big Horn Basin, the Yel- | lowstone National Park, and even in the free range near the settlement of Jackson itself. One gentleman last l summer counted herd of 800 elk within two and half miles of Jack son.
 ! Within tie last five years the elk have decreased 1,S0o in number. This alarming decrease is due as much to the restriction of their natural range as to the efforts of sportsmen, In- dians, or commercial hunters, who, l l herd in order to obtain the much prized elk's teeth for a certain fra ternity. Tn severe winter weather a great number of elks perish from starvation. Rather than venture to the lower pastures, they founder through the deep snows of the moun- tains, browsing from the buds of birch and quaking aspen. A thaw,, followed by, severe cold wea ther, makes a heavy crust that proves the undoingt of the emaciated elk. Then progress becomes so difficult as to prevent the animal from obtaining sufficient food
 HIt is often incorrectly stated that Felk browse on sheathes of pine and frs. If this were the case they would never starve, for their range abophds in conifers. Very few. elk are pulled down by wolves, cougar. or other wild animals; in fact, they 4 remain in the mountain attitudes long after the deep snows have driven these hungry marauders away, and the spring thaws reveal untouched carcasses of starved e1ks.
 Elk are far and free travellers. They have not that strong love of locality which characterizes most
 members of the deer tribe, and when they once get under way they swing over the Aronghest ground and
 through dense forests of pine, up
 steep mountains covered with fairly
 impenetrable brush and windfalIs, at
 almost the pace of locomotive. The
 big herd in Jackson's Hole is con.
 siderable source of income to the res.
 idents of that country, and as such
 it is as carefully guarded as is possi
 ble in so wild and rough a region. A
 couple of years ago newspaper cor.
 respondent who had made the triI
 into Yellowstone park went further
 into the Jackson's Hole country.
 Alarmed by the sight of fence o1
 whitened elk horns, he wrote his ed
 itor an article upon the indiscrimi nate slaughter of the elk. He was mis taken, however. All these horns are } shed by the elk in the early spring and are gathered during the cattle
 round-ups. In the fall when the ell
 are shot the horns are fastened firm
 1y to the skull, and unless one ex
 poets to have them separately mount
 ed as trophies he does not trouble to detach them.
 In their mental equipment elk art
 like cattle, caribou, ands reindeer
 They do not possess the instinetiv' cunning of most members of the deer tribe. One will sometimes see band
 lahoriously paving the snow for pas ' ture in some deep-covered valley
 while the summits and hog-back
 have been blown clear by the wind :, Deer. horses, and even sheep exhibit . keener reasoning in this respect . Only cratic methods of travel ant 9 habits of migration, together witt :, their tendency to retreat as far a possible from the outposts of civiliza tion, have made the existence of large band possible until now.