Show park rangers get ready for winter cut hay from meadows to feed animals when snow comes park wyo the park rangers are out in the meadows get ting in the winter bay and rumors from yellowstone animal tell of treat rejoicing among the elk antelope and buffalo each year the lowlands along the lamar and garddner and their tributaries tributa ries are harvested of rich alm othy clover and natural ha along slough creek at yancey s old place near the buffalo ranch in the lamar valley and at the north entrance to the park at garddner mont the rangers work gathering a thousand tons or more of hay meanwhile the tourists pass through the park coming at the rate of 2 or more each day in their travels over the grand loop road of nearly miles many animals are seen particularly ticul arly the bears but realization of the work responsible for the abundance of wild life in the lellow stone Is not always forthcoming the tragic story of the american buffalo or bison Is well known thanks to the untiring efforts of the park service yellowstone boasts of one of the few large herds of these animals in the united stiles there are two buffalo herds in the park one that Is cared for by winter feeding consisting of approximately head and the other a band of that roams free and without care the year around in the eastern wildernesses wilder nesses of the park buffalo herd in valley the winter headquarters of the large herd Is at the lamar valley but atlo ranch where the fragrant timothy hay grown in nearby meadows care tully stacked behind 12 foot fences Is rationed out buffalo can break through fences less than 12 feet in height in alie summer they range up the valley and into the mountainous areas A huge drift fence three miles long which spans the lamar valley prevents them from coming down to the ranch and eating their winter provisions before the hay Is stacked A story similar to the buffaloe buffalos buff alos has been very nearly true of the antelope and elk in this country of elk possibly licad remain 40 per cent of them in the yellow stone national park this area surrounding alie paik in and montana supports other large elk herda and an excellent system of game preserves has fostered elk bands in south of in jackson hole the forest service and biological survey aided by a huge land purchase of the izaak walton league feed these aal mals in the winter this area and the park are huge game preserves which largely foster the excellent hunting found in localities feed elk in winter winter feeding Is resorted to with the elk after deep endows have covered all available natural bay with elk and likewise with antelope tho raphy of yellowstone park creates the winter problem the park Is much ille a huge plateau as big as the states of rhode island and delaware higher than the surrounding land and circled by mountains the heavy win ter snows force the animals down the river valleys from the plateau into lower country where grazing may be found here they are unprotected from predatory animals and other din gers hence it la to their advantage to be kept in the park by feeding while the elk range in almost every section of the park usually well back from the roads during the summer the antelope are found almost entirely in the northern portion of the yellow stone they number about COO and an increase of possibly ald took place this year the most favorable for wild life in park records many are seen throughout the summer near camp roosevelt and tower falls and in the winter they migrate to the grassy ridges along the northern boun dary of the park where rangers jealously guard them from molestation the deer are in yellowstone lellow stone in large numbers nearly 2000 of the mule or black tailed virleta and a few of the white tailed species they also take advantage of the winter feed ing and each vear when the snows are deep on the ground a small band about the settlement at mammoth hot springs begging their food from the rangers and others living there pleased at moose increase park officials are happy over the recent marked increase in numbers of the yellowstone moose an added de light Is that these wary animals frequenters qu enters of the swamps and timberlands are being seen by the summer tourists from the auto roads not far from mammoth an old cow moose with twin calves has been noted along the road to old faithful time and again summer the rangers estimate moose in yellowstone few who have followed the auto road to the summit of mount wash burn this year have missed the band of bighorn sheep in that vicinity there are COO mountain sheep scat through the park in the high places they as well as the moose are entirely able to shift for themselves and have thrived on protection from hunting during many years in the national park every one who ever came to yel low stone and a good many who have not knows of the bears the friendly gluttons that even resort to highway robbe y of tourists for food they hibernate in park caves during the winter and will eat anything during the summer the bear feeding ground near the four big hotels are always centers of attraction for the tourists the yellowstone lellow stone brown beara number and the 75 secret of Trap pr in the days when john jacob astor was reaping his fur harvest from the west in far away hew york the yel low stone region was the jealously guarded secret of a few trappers the fur bearing animals now in the park approximate the numbers that they did then and their protection from the unscrupulous during the winter Is another task of the park service con beaver otter mank muskrat ermine and other lesser aal mals abound the winter ranger pa arol on snowshoe and ski guards poachers the predatory animals coyote mountain lion and wolf must be carefully dept few in number the park service has no intention of completely exterminating these animals but by trapping and shooting during the win ter maintains a small percentage oi coyotes and mountain lions in the pirk otherwise the carefully pro big game herds would furnish means for thee predatory tory animals to and eventually exterminate all others solves are noted in the park from time to time migrating in and out of the region A few lynx exist nowhere in the country can a region more abounding with wild life be found and it Is safe to say that nowhere have conservational efforts equal to those of the park service been exerted for as long a time |