The leader., 1905-07-15
$4,000 ELK In HERD.
sREAT WILD ANIMAL CoLLEc-
TIoN I'm WYOMING.
Resident Of Western State Declares
That This Bunch" Is Largest
In United States and Prob
ably in the World.

the United States, and probably in the
world, Is the great band Of elk which
winters In the l0wlands of Jackson,s
Hole district, Wyoming, said D. G.
Robinson, Of the western state, to
Washington Star man. There are esti-
mated to be some $4,000 head of elk in
the band. The men who have given this
estimate are well-known ranchers and
cattlemen or cowboys and owners Of
sheep and stock ranges. Their esti-
mate comes pretty close to being q cor
rect one. During the severe winters in
Wyoming, when the elk, driven by the
bitter cold and heavy SHOWS, approach
almost to their very doors, they have UNI
usual opportunities for observing this
great herd of magnificent animals
All the elk in Jackson's Hole district
are carefully protected by the scattered
residents of the country. AT present the
herd is underline constant surveillance of
two deputy game wardens, who carefully
watch the band when any portion of it
strays into the district over which they
have authority In the summer time the
herd is widely scattered over an extent
Of country the radius of which is more
than 500 miles, embracing territory Of
virginia. beauty and primeyal grandeur.
"Of those elk which enter Colorado,
q large percentage is killed, while the
few which stray into Utah fall at the
hands of the Ute Indians The elk
which wander too far from the home
are not killed in the summer, but in
the late fall.
by far the larger portion of the
herd which is guarded in the winter
in Jackson's Hole passes the summer
in the timbered heights in Teton, eros
Ventre and Shoshone mountains, the
Big Horn basin, the Yellowstone Nc
tional Park, and even in the free
range near the settlement of Jackson
itself One gentleman recently count
ed herd of 800 elk within, two and .
half miles of Jackson.
Within the last Ave years the elk
have decreased 1900 in number. This
alarming decrease is due as much to
the restriction of their natural range
as to the effects of sportsmen, Indians or
commercial hunters, who, it is often
alleged, have pursued the herd in or
der to obtain the much priced elks
teeth for certain fraternity In Sc
we're winter weather a great number
of elk perish from starvation. Rather
than venture to the lower pastures,
they founder through the deep SHOWS
of the mountains, browsing from the
buds of birch and quaking aspen. A
thaw, followed by severe cold weather
makes heavy crust that proves the
undoing of the emaciated elk. Their
progress becomes. SO difficult as to
prevent the animal from obtaining
sufficient food
1T is often incorrectly stated that
elk browse on sheaves of pine and
frs. If this were the case they would
never starye, for their range abounds
in conifers. Very few elk are pulled
down by wolves, cougars or other
wild animals; in fact, they remain in
the mountain attitudes long after the
deep SHOWS have driven these hungry
marauders away, and the spring
thaws reveal untouched carcasses Of
starved elk.
eek are far and free travellers.
They have not that strong love of To-
cality which characterizes most men,
bers of the deer tribe and when they
once get under way they swing over
the toughest ground and through
dense forests of pine, up steep noun
tains covered with fairly impenetrable
brush and windfalls at almost the pace
of locomotive. The big herd in
Jackson's Hole is considerable
source of income to the residents of
that country, and as such it is as
carefully guarded as is possible in so
wild and rough region.
In their mental equipment elk are
like cattle, caribou and reindeer.
They do not possess the instructive
cunning of most members of the deer
tribe. One will sometimes see a band
laboriously paving the snow for pas
ture in some deep-covered valley
while the SUBMITS and hogbacks have
been blown CHAR by the wind. Deer,
horses and even sheep exhibit keen
er reasoning in this respect. Only
erratic methods Of travel and habits
of migration, together with their ten
dency to retreat as far as possible
from the outposts of civilization, have
made the existence of large band
possible until now