SF Aor § ee ere Dp fe ia, é Issued December 31, 1910 t Sle J-S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE a BIOLOGICAL SURVEY—BULLETIN No. 36 | RAISING DEER AND OTHER LARGE GAME ANIMALS IN THE UNITED STATES %. BY h DAVID E. LANTZ Assistant, Biological Survey WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1910 =| 1800) |@& ees WRG! ant Berry ties i te rot ah en v ie i i te Bul. 36, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. PLATE I. ELK HERD IN THE NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK, WASHINGTON, D. C. Issued December 31, 1910 Uo Ser PARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE BIOLOGICAL SURVEY—BULLETIN No. 36 HENRY W. HENSHAW, Chief RAISING DEER AND OTHER LARGE GAME ANIMALS IN THE UNITED STATES BY DAVID E. LANTZ Assistant, Biological Survey D ——— >, =~ VIE aN Kite y ae Aor RAMA emirates . Palast rap aS ¥ \ y RE SoS WZ ay WASHINGTON 1910 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE / pi 1 yo J a \ ye b/27 /. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. U. S. Department or AGRICULTURE, BroLocicaL SURVEY, Washington, D. C., Oct. 4, 1910. Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith, as Bulletin No. 36 of the Biological Survey, the results of an investigation by David E. Lantz concerning the practicability and desirability of raising deer and other large game animals in the United States. In most parts of the country the number of game animals is steadily diminishing and game for table use has already become a high-priced luxury. Experiments have shown that some species, — especially of the deer family, can be brought to a state of semidomes- tication with comparative ease and can be bred and raised at very “small cost. The chief purpose of the present bulletin is to call atten- tion to the importance of raising elk and deer for venison, to indicate the particular species most readily reared in preserves, and to empha- size the importance of so modifying state game laws as to encourage the use of private effort and capital in making a marketable com- modity of venison and placing it within the reach of people of mod- erate means. Since the distribution in 1908 of our earlier publica- tion on Deer Farming (Farmers’ Bulletin 330) several States have changed their game laws in the interest of this industry, and as its importance becomes known others are sure to follow. Attention is again directed to the fact that in many parts of the country there are tracts of land of little or no value for agricultural purposes which can be more profitably used for raising venison than for any other purpose. Respectfully, “Henry W. HeEnsHaw, Chief, Biological Survey. Hon. JAmMEs WIrson, Secretary of Agriculture. CONTENTS. HERO st OI OOU oe cmb systray) gee Wes Wee ee Uh ca eke ss Rel be hs Selection of species for rearing experiments.........--.---------------------- ihe pronchorn., or American antelope: .25. 4-4 oe oes oe ae Se aes PO LICaMLelOpesecsc eee as eee aie PR ees omen ae em ats o sas mies HECK CL AN Ciae eepe mack ets ha neta et ean ROY) | eee ENS ENS Sse 2 RUNES Syd DUNE SEE Ee Sr ge oe ea EP ag ream Ee Rt Og Te iets Smallerantelopesis3 6s° oo Si. Sere ac ew (Saye aS ce Wloctej epee aie A ah he pes iniporiancevor therdeeriamily:: eae ce 6 ae ee oe ca er cae Nativyerdeerof North America sgn ore SPDs oot is Soca pee cee (OBAET OO ese sae cee eae Recreation, XXVII, 129, March, 1908. EXPERIENCE IN RAISING ELK. 29 ginia deer, as they advance in age, by their pugnacious habits are apt to become troublesome and dangerous. The elk lives to a great age, one having been kept in the possession of the elder Peale, of Philadelphia, for thirteen years; we observed one in the park of a nobleman in Austria that had been received from America twenty-five years before.? Professor Baird was of the opinion that the elk could easily be domesticated, and that, next to the caribou and the moose, it is the “one to which we are most entitled to look for an increase of our stock of domestic animals. The great size of the horns of the male. and his fierceness and uncontrollability during the rutting season, are certainly obstacles in the way of reducing the elk to the rank of a servant to man; nevertheless they are not unsurmountable, after all.” He suggested that, as in the case of the buck of the common deer, castration would effectually subdue the animal. He suggested further that if the social instinct is necessary to the complete domestication of an animal, no deer possesses it in a higher degree than the elk, which is often found in immense herds.? One of the earliest successful attempts to domesticate the round- horned elk was made by Col. John Mercer, of Cedar Park, West River, Md. Colonel Mercer obtained his stock from St. Louis about seventy-five or eighty years ago. The animals were transported to Wheeling by water and thence to West River by way of Cumber- land on foot. A few other breeders obtained stock from Colonel Mercer, among them Col. Joseph Tuley, of Millwood, Clarke County, Va. Lorenzo Stratton, of Little Valley, Cattaraugus County, N. Y., began experiments with this species about sixty years ago. In a letter addressed to D. J. Browne, and dated January 12, 1859, he says: The American elk, with all its claims to attention, is fast disappearing from the earth, with scarcely an effort for its preservation or domestication. By domestication I do not mean simply taming, but a course of intelligent breed- ing and protection. A series of experiments with this animal * * * has furnished me with sufficient evidence to say confidently that this business may be made of great importance to the country. * * * TJ have now a herd so gentle that a visitor at my farm would hardly imagine that their ancestors only three generations back were wild animals. * * * The facility for extending this business may easily be conceived. New York alone might support 100,000 elks on land where our domestic cattle could not subsist; furnishing an amount of venison almost incredible; while the adjoin- ing State of Pennsylvania, to say nothing of others, might sustain a still larger number without encroaching upon an acre of land now used for stock rearing, or any other purpose connected with agriculture.¢ “The Quadrupeds of North America, II, 92, 1851. + Report U. S. Com. Patents (Agriculture) for 1851, p. 118, 1852. ¢ Report U. S. Com. of Patents (Agriculture) for 1858, p. 237, 1859. 30 RAISING DEER IN THE UNITED STATES. At a meeting of the American Institute in New York January 6, 1862, Mr. Stratton gave a detailed account of his experience in domesticating the elk, in which he said, in part: About eight years ago I had an opportunity to purchase two elks. I did so as a matter of curiosity and because I wished to see a few specimens of this for- ester preserved, as my place is situated in the region where they used to roam in countless numbers. They did well and bred. I fenced off a few acres for them, and found after a while that I could certainly raise venison cheaper than my neighbors could raise beef. I devoted a large plat of stony, bushy land, unfit for any other purpose, to them. Since then I have succeeded in breeding 37 elk. I have had no accident of any kind amongst them, and they have fatted and bred regularly and have become quite domesticated. The does have been gentle and act like domestic cattle. The bucks have been also gentle until they were about 4 years old, when they have been difficult to manage in September and October, like a bull or stud-horse. In such cases I generally made venison of them. Excepting these instances, however, the animals are quite docile. The first fawn that I raised was very shy. He was in a lot of about 15 acres, and when I went to him he would flee from me, so that I could hardly get a sight at him. The next fawns raised were not so frightened when they saw me, and now when I go into the field the young fawns are like so many calves. My lot is fenced with common rails, 6 or 7 feet high, and there is no difficulty in keeping the animals within bounds. Frequently, when the fence may get down, they go out into a neighboring piece of woods, but as soon as anything startles them they run for their own field again, and feel safe only when they arrive there. They are not inclined to stray off. This lot in which they are confined they consider as their home, and chase off any dogs that may come upon it. In four generations, by kind treatment, I have, as I contend, not merely succeeded in taming them, but in domesticating them. They are as gentle as sheep that run wild. * * * * %* % The great profit in raising them, however, is for their meat. They live and fatten on useless land. Where the feeding ground is brush they will destroy it; but the grass will come up more profusely on this account in the summer; and it has the result of giving them better feed in the summer though not so good in the winter. I paid $400 for the first pair I bought; I have bought 2 does since then, from which, with the first pair, I have raised my whole stock ; I have been at various unnecessary expenses, from the fact that I did not know how to manage them; I can now raise elk cheaper than I can sheep; I have a 83-year-old buck, weighing 480 pounds, which has cost me less than any 53-year-old sheep I have got. I have been anxious to introduce them as common stock and have sold them for $100 a pair. A great many are afraid to buy them, for fear they will get away and go wild again. They see me go into the field and all the flock come about me, and each one tries to get his nose into my pocket; but they say, “‘I don’t believe I could do that.” They think there is some Rarey secret about it. When I go into the lot, I generally carry a little handful of salt, or grain, or something which they like, which makes them come about me. * * * I think there is no better meat than that of the elk; it is richer and more juicy than the meat of the deer; I killed a 2-year-old doe this year which had had no fawn; she was very fat; I took 29 pounds of tallow from her, and she weighed 282 pounds dressed, the skin weighing 28 pounds. At the same meeting Mr. Trimble stated that several years pre- viously, while traveling over the prairie in Illinois, he had seen at a EXPERIENCE IN RAISING ELK. 81 house where he stopped a full-grown elk perfectly domesticated. There were no fences about and it never attempted to run away.* The final outcome of the Stratton experiment at Little Valley was recorded in a communication to Forest and Stream by Mr. EK. L. Stratton, of Grand View, Tenn., a brother of Lorenzo Stratton. He stated that so far as the experiment was carried it was a complete success. ‘“ Had there been a moderate amount of capital invested, with a larger territory of cheap mountain land ‘added, and with close attention to the business, it would have been a profitable invest- ment and doubtless would have shown handsome dividends. But when we decided to move South, the elk business had to be aban- doned. Most of the stock on hand was bought by some foreigners and shipped by rail to New York, thence some to Italy and the rest to Germany, and three or four were slaughtered at home.” ? Tn 1887 T. D. Kellogg, of Whitestone, Long Island, contributed to the New York Herald an interesting account of his observations on domesticating the wapiti, made when a pioneer in northwestern Iowa in the fifties. Mr. Kellogg said that at that time elk roamed over all the plains of that part of Iowa, but already in diminishing num- bers. In the spring when a settler had killed a doe elk he would occa- sionally take home a suckling fawn in his arms and bring it up by hand. Two settlers whom he knew well had each an elk thus domes- ticated, and several similar instances came to his knowledge. ‘These settlers had no inclosure except a small garden patch, from which stock was excluded by a rude fence. The tame elk, let loose upon the open prairie, were at full liberty, and although born in a wild state they never joined a passing herd nor roamed far from home. They gave no trouble by getting into the garden or injuring the fence. They were less timid than sheep, although not so familiar as dogs. “ Probably no animal in existence,” says Mr. Kellogg, “is naturally fitted to take so kindly to domestica- tion as this noble creature, so rapidly disappearing from the face of the earth.” ¢ Judge John D. Caton, of Tlinois, who contributed so much to our knowledge of the deer family and of their susceptibility to domestica- -tion, seems to have been unfortunate in having inclosures poorly adapted to deer. He believed that his pastures contained some kind of vegetable food that was Larmful to most of the species, but his elk were always healthy. Writing in 1880, Judge Caton said: My elk continue to do well and are so prolific that I have had repeatedly to reduce their numbers and would be glad now to dispose of at least 30. I “Trans. Am. Institute for 1861-62, pp. 220-228, 1862. 6 Forest and Stream, XLVIII, 445, June 5, 1897. €The American Field, XXVIII, 126, August 6, 1887. 32 RAISING DEER IN THE UNITED STATES. have on an average about one old buck a year killed in battle and sometimes another by some casualty, but all appear healthy. Mine grow very large and of all the Cervide they seem best adapted to domestication.¢ With few exceptions former attempts to rear elk were made by men who were wealthy and actuated only by a desire to possess or to preserve the animals. Care of them was left to servants. The bucks remained uncastrated until they became old and unmanageable, when the serious problem of caring for them soon outweighed the novelty of their possession, and the experiments were abandoned. This will account for the failure of many of the herds that were founded a half century or more ago. But these breeders of the elk have not been without successors, and at present there are small herds of elk under private ownership in many places in the United States. The Biological Survey has re- cently opened communication with owners of herds of ell and deer, for the purpose of learning their experience in rearing the animals and obtaining their opinions as to the feasibility of making the busi- ness profitable. Extracts from recent correspondence referring to the wapiti, or elk, follow: Joshua Hill, of Pontiac, Mich., wrote, October 12, 1907, that he has - elk and bison in his preserve of 300 acres. He finds the sale of elk meat slow, but thinks that, if properly pushed, the business of grow- ing it would pay well. In his opinion the elk would be more profitable than deer, since the animals are larger and the venison better. He has heard of elk meat bringing 50 cents to $1 per pound. Isaac A. Bonine, of Niles, Mich., wrote, under date of October 14, 1907, stating that he had been breeding both the elk and deer for about thirty-five years. He said: “ We find that deer are not so hardy as elk and require more care. Elk require less care than the domestic animals, while deer are even more delicate. Deer should have a greater variety of food than elk. Elk winter well on hay and corn fodder with a little grain, and they live and thrive during summer months on blue grass. Deer will live on the foods mentioned here for elk, but they should have vegetables also. They require an open shed or shelter of some sort during winter; an elk requires none. The grow- ing of both elk and deer for park purposes may be made profitable.” J. W. Gilbert, of Friend, Nebr., states (March 17, 1908) that he has been growing deer and elk for seventeen years. The deer have not always done well, but he now has a healthy herd of about 30 head. The elk have increased and done well all the time. He has never had - a barren cow elk. Mr. Gilbert’s: range of 75 acres is on the open prairie, and contains buffalo, deer, and elk. F. J. Wilson, of Lewisburg, Ohio, began raising elk and deer a few years ago, with three head of each at first. He has not succeeded so 4@American Naturalist, XIV, 396, April, 1880. ELK IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS. 33 well with deer as with the elk. Deer require a higher fence and more care. The elk do well on hay, corn fodder, and other rough feed; if they escape from an inclosure they can be driven back lke cattle. Mr. Wilson paid $165 for 2 adult elk and a fawn. He has sold $300 worth of stock, and, in 1908, had a herd of 12 head, worth $1,000. The experience of Carl Tielenius with his herd at Mount Pocono, Pa., is less satisfactory. He began about the year 1890 with 26 head of 2-year-old elk, 22 of which were cows. The first year they pro- duced 23 calves, and in the following four years 22, 18, 16, and 12, respectively. In later years with about 80 cows the number of calves has ranged from 5 to 10 per year. The herd is healthy, but reproduc- tion is deficient in spite of the infusion of new blood by the introduc- tion of bulls from the Whitney herd. It is possible that, as Judge Caton suspected to be the trouble in his herd, the bulls at Mount Pocono exhaust themselves by much fighting before the rut begins. ELK IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS. Col. W. C. Wetmore, of St. Louis, writes under date of April 20, 1908, that the St: Louis Park and Agricultural Company, of which he is a member, owns several thousand acres of land in Taney County, Mo. The land is in the Ozark Mountains and the ground rough and hilly, though well watered. A little of the upland and some of the valleys are tillable, and corn and oats are grown in the former and corn and alfalfa in the latter—enough to feed the game when snow prevents their finding their ordinary food. The preserve is sur- rounded with an 8-foot wire fence, and in it are now about 400 elk and 1,000 deer. Colonel Wetmore writes further : They are hearty and healthy and do well in every way and at all times are fat and marketable. I am thoroughly convinced that the raising of both elk and deer can be made very profitable where the ground, water, and other condi- tions are favorable. Deer increase very rapidly, as a doe usually drops twins after she is three years old. Elk do not increase so rapidly, cow elk dropping a calf every other year, but they are hardy, and with an experience of over twenty years I have not known one to die of natural causes. * * * Tama lover of all wild game, particularly deer and elk, and I hope you will be suc- cessful in interesting people in propagating them. Give them plenty of room to run in and they will do well. George W. Russ, of Eureka Springs, Ark., has a herd of 93 elk (1909). They have ample range in the Ozarks on rough land covered with hardwood forest and abundant underbrush., He reports that the animals improve the forest by clearing out part of the thicket. Fully 90 per cent of the females produce healthy young, and Mr. Russ thinks he could make the business of growing elk for market profitable if the law would permit him to kill and export the meat. 84 RAISING DEER IN THE UNITED STATES. He has an offer of 40 cents a pound for the dressed carcasses in St. Louis. If, as he claims, he can produce elk meat cheaper than beef, pork, or mutton, this should be a remunerative price. He thinks that large areas in the Alleghenies and Ozarks not now utilized could be economically adapted to produce venison for sale, and he regards the American elk as especially suited for forest grazing. Mr. Russ, in a letter dated Eureka Springs, Ark., March 7, 1908, sent the Department of Agriculture, through H. N. Vinall, Bureau of Plant Industry, the following answers to the several questions propounded : Question 1. How many acres per elk of forest land is needed for best results? Answer. Much depends upon the character of the forest land. In this section of the Ozark Mountains an average of 5 acres to the head. In other sections a larger area will be necessary. The larger the area the better the results. One hundxed elk will fare better in a 500-acre inclosure than one elk confined on 5° acres. Question 2. Would it be possible for individuals to raise elk under grazing permits in large tracts like the national forests without fencing, by some method of feeding in a certain place or by herding? Answer. We think it possible to raise elk by individuals having permits in the national forests, by a system of feeding in certain places, thereby locating these animals on the range best fitted for them, and by loose herding by well- trained men familiar with their habits. But there are so many contingencies to be reckoned with on an open range that in our opinion it would be far preferable to fence. Question 3. What is the cost per mile in forest land of an elk fence? Answer. Again, much depends on distance from railroad, cost of labor, etc. ; but ordinarily where posts and stays cost nothing but the making of them a good elk fence can be built for about $200 per mile. Question 4. Will the elk do any considerable damage to a forest in restricting the growth of young trees of valuable species? Answer. Elk will feed on buds and leaves 8 feet above the ground, and any growth up to or under this is liable to be eliminated, depending upon the amount of such food. Unless the range is very much restricted they will not eat the bark from trees, neither will they resort to any species of evergreen. (PI. IV.) Question 5. What has been the per cent of increase in your herd under domes- tication ? Answer. The increase in elk under domestication is equal to that of cattle. Question 6. What is the average weight of an adult male? Of a female? Answer. Male, 700 to 1,000 pounds; female, 600 to 800 pounds. Question 7. Will they not give a greater per cent of dressed meat than cattle? ' Answer. Yes; but owing to the game laws our experience has been limited to a few animals. The per cent of dressed meat is much more. PLATE IV. Bul. 36, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. ELK IN NEW PASTURE NEAR EUREKA SPRINGS, ARK ai ner Nee | ‘HSNYAYSAGN(] JO NOILVNIWITQ ONIMOHS ‘SMuvZO SHL NI MYVd W19 Bul. 36, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. sf ELK IN THE OZARK MOUNTAINS. 35 Question 8. Is there at this time, or would there be in case the laws were revised, any general demand for elk meat? At what price? Answer. In answer to this question, we can be guided only by the very limited demand, owing to the law prohibiting the sale of elk meat. We do, however, receive orders from parties not familiar with the law, and letters from many asking us if we are permitted to sell. From the fact that as high as $1.50 per pound has been paid for this meat in New York City and Canada, and that the best hotels and restaurants pronounce it the finest of all the meats of mammals, we are of the opinion that if the laws were such that domesticated elk meat could be furnished it would be many years before the supply would make the price reasonable compared with other meats. Question 9. What price per pound would you consider necessary to make the production of elk meat profitable? Answer. Elk meat can be produced in many sections of this country for less cost per pound than beef, mutton, or pork. Question 10. What laws, state or national, at present interfere with the production and sale of elk meat? What are your recommendations for revising these laws? Answer. The remedy to the state and national laws is very simple, and at the same time just and equitable. By simply adding or inserting the word “wild” before the name of the animal protected. To guard against abuses, a certificate from the owner of domesticated animals should follow them, and proper penalties should be imposed for any violation of the laws. Question 11. Would the elk be adapted for browsing in the Appalachian forests from Pennsylvania south to Georgia? Answer. Yes; I am quite familiar with the Appalachian range, and consider it ideal. Question 12. Are they as useful as goats in clearing out underbrush? Is it best to use both goats and elk? Answer. They are more useful, as they will browse as low as goats and twice as high. I would earnestly recommend the use of both goats and elk for clearing up brushy land and fitting it for tame grasses. Hlk and goats get along well in the same inclosure. Question 13. What area will they clear up per year in your section? Keep cleared ? Answer. So much depends on the amount of underbrush as to the average amount elk and goats will keep cleared. The conditions in a mountainous country are much more diversified than in a level one, the growth of underbrush and timber often changing radically in a fourth of a mile. The average condi- tions in this range of mountains can only be estimated approximately. Our ex- perience has taught us that to get the best results, after stocking with elk and goats, it is best to wait one year before seeding, then continue with elk and goats two years more; when, if properly seeded and pastured, an open wood- land pasture of tame grasses will be obtained (Plate V). To accomplish this, our estimate would be an average of one elk and two goats to 5 acres. When the underbrush and weeds have been eliminated by elk and goats, they will be very Slow in coming in again. The life has been destroyed by the continued browsing on bud and leaf, and not only is the stem dead but the root also, The 86 RAISING DEER IN THE UNITED STATES. perennial weeds have been treated the same way. Those coming from seed must come from outside the fence, and will find the tame grasses in possession. Elk and goats fed on the falling leaves in the fall, thus lessening the covering of grasses. Tame grasses will not thrive under a thick coating of dead leaves. Question 14. Is the forest open enough after their work to permit the growth of grass? ? Answer. Elk and goats do not open up dense forests, except undergrowth. It is necessary to have considerable light and sun for the growing of tame grasses. Question 15. After the forest land has been cleared and seeded to tame grass, could sheep be grazed in the same lot as the elk? Answer. In reply to this question, we answer from long experience that eattle, sheep, and goats can be grazed in the same lots with elk, providing, however, that the lots or inclosures are not small—the larger the area the bet- ter; and we know of no more appropriate place to call attention to the great benefit of a few elk in the same pasture with sheep or goats. An elk is the natural enemy of dogs and wolves. We suffered great losses to our flocks until we learned this fact; since then we have had no loss from that cause. A few elk in a thousand-acre pasture will absolutely protect the flocks therein. Our own dogs are so well aware of the danger in our elk park that they can not be induced to enter it. In your note you invite us to suggest any other points not covered by your questions. We think of nothing but feed and shelter. Nature has provided the elk with a winter coat of hair, which is in itself ample protection from any weather conditions, and which makes artificial protection unnecessary. All that is needed is feed, and on account of their browsing on that which is already in our hills and low mountains but little provision is needed. Like cattle, they are fond of grain and can be fattened on it, but may be kept in good condition during the winter on very little roughness. To be more explicit, one-half the ration per pound required for cattle will do for elk. We have opinions about caring for and domesticating the wild elk, saving to the nation what yet remains, and using them as a nucleus for general domestication and distribution. These views we will gladly furnish if desired. MANAGEMENT OF ELK IN INCLOSURES. The experience of Mr. Stratton at Little Valley, N. Y., recounted in the preceding pages, gives an excellent foundation for practice in developing a true domesticity in the wapiti; but for economic reasons it may not always be possible for the raiser of the elk to adopt the same methods. He may wish to grow the animals for venison only and on large preserves where the calves can not be tamed when young. But when the elk is grown for stocking parks and private preserves, the tamer the herd the easier will it be to handle and ship the stock. RANGE. The natural food supply is an important consideration in choosing a range for the elk. While elk have done well in blue-grass pas- ture and on the prairie grasses alone, they do far better on preserves PLATE VI. Bul. 36, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept. ot Agriculture. TAME ELK ON INDIAN ROCK GAME PRESERVE, OWNED By C. D. RICHARDSON, WEST BROOKFIELD, MASs. MANAGEMENT OF ELK. aif which have a variety of food—grasses, bushes, and trees. Rough lands well watered by streams and having a considerable proportion of forested area are best adapted to their wants. On an average such lands will support about the same number of elk as of cattle on the same area without impairing the range. There should be thickets enough to furnish winter browse for the animals. A supply of winter forage of other kinds will prevent the too rapid destruction of shrub- bery in thickets. FOOD. Except in times of snow, elk will keep in excellent condition on ordinary grass pasture, but a system of management which regularly furnishes other food to the animals will be found better. For winter, hay and corn fodder furnish excellent forage; but alfalfa hay has proved to be the most satisfactory dry food that can be given to either elk or deer. A little oats or corn, whole or chopped, may be fed each day. Elk are fond of corn, and feeding corn and salt affords the best opportunities for winning confidence of the animals and taming them. Salt should be furnished liberally to all deer kept in inclosures. Running water, although not essential, is of great im- portance in maintaining elk in good condition. (Plate VI shows a small herd of elk at feeding place in winter.) FENCE. Elk are not nervous like the common deer and seldom jump an ordinary fence.