MONTANA WILD LIFE      , 
 
Traunsiplant Elk With  Trac~tor 
 
ONTANA sportsmen who have re- 
quested cooperation of the State 
Fish and Game Department in 
defraying half the expense in securing 
carloads of elk from the National Bison 
Range at Molese for distribution in 
suitable areas, have been   extending 
every assistance to make "the plant" 
successfully.  While many states are 
crying for Montana elk for transplant- 
ing, many of these monarchs of the 
forest have been sold to be butchered 
for meat and sold to eastern corpora- 
tions or given to Indians. Those which 
have been requested by state clubs of 
sportsmen have been moved in the 
dead of one of the hardest winters in 
the history of the state.  Sportsmen 
have demonstrated their sportsmanship. 
One of the most interesting incidents 
of the transfer of a shipment of these 
elk is explained in the weekly report 
of Allen T. Holmes, deputy state game 
warden stationed at Billings, who as- 
sisted in unloading and liberating the 
consignment for the Red Lodge club. 
They constructed a huge sled, hauled it 
into the hills with the aid of a cater- 
pillar engine and only three elk were 
lost. 
But let Deputy Holmes tell the story 
in his own words: 
 
on bare ground. The cow     that had 
the hair off her left side was in the 
creek dead. We pulled her out of the 
creek and out of the way. Then we 
put some hay where this other cow 
could eat it. Another cow in the first 
load looked as though she had the 
distemper. 
"When we came back to the sleigh 
one bull was still there, so we threw 
out the hay in the bottom of the sleigh. 
He started to eat some of the ha  and 
was standing there when we went out 
of sight. Outside of the three I have 
mentioned I think the others will make 
it all right, after a few days of sun- 
shine and a little rest. They will get 
over their soreness and excitement from 
being penned up. The elk did well for 
wild animals not used to being handled 
by man, penned up and shipped by rai 
then unloaded from the car inn 
on a sleigh, and hauled      ad one- 
half miles by a cater4r tractor over 
a snow road one   ix feet deep." 
 
"John L. Corey furnished 
 
these. The poles were spiked at ends 
and to the upright pieces and the rear 
end was fixed so that poles could go 
through when the elk were loaded. 
We   used  one-by-twelve-inch  boards, 
eighteen feet long, and nailed them to 
the poles on the inside so that the elk 
could not get their feet through the 
cracks between the poles, four feet 
high. One cow elk was down in the 
car when we opened it and she had 
been tramped quite a bit. The hair on 
her left side was about half off, and 
left her skin bare. They showed fight 
from the start. 
 
"It was four and one-half miles from 
Red Lodge to the mouth of Nickles 
creek where we turned the elk loose, 
and the Red Lodge Rod and Gun Club 
had 15 bales of timothy hay scattered 
there but the elk did not stop to look 
at the hay. They went up on the side 
of the mountain and stopped and looked 
around. Then some of them started to 
brouse and didn't seem to be afraid. 
 
"When we got up with the last load 
two stood around close to the back end 
of the sleigh. Then we went up the 
creek to where one cow was in the 
snow up to her belly. We got her out 
 
WILk1 1 I,1aut1l  UUUUM UULUL U SCe le- 
line enemies of song birds, ground- 
nesting birds on farms and in the 
woods,     the club merits the com- 
mendati    f Montana sportsmen. 
The N     York City division of the 
American Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals reports the elim- 
ination of 322,279 cats in a period of 
eighteen months. It would appear that 
this society is alive to the importance 
of radically reducing the number of 
domestic cats in the Interest of increas- 
ing the bird population. 
James Sheldon, writing in this report, 
says that along the beaches near New 
York last year a multitude of cats 
were left behind by vacationists. They 
became ravenous and actually fought 
with the fishermen for the fish they 
brought ashore. They climbed porches 
at night and entered homes in search 
of food. 
 
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MONTANA BEAVER 
WORTH FORTUNE 
FFICIAL        records of the    State 
Department showing     the  num- 
ber of beaver trapping permits 
issued at $10 each, where farmers 
and   stockmen   complain   of  beaver 
damaging irrigation ditches or flood- 
ing  meadows, make     an   interesting 
tabulation.  Before a permit is is- 
sued, the   Commission    insists that 
the premises be inspected by a game 
warden. During 1915 and 1916 there 
are no permits of record as none 
was required by law. Then during 
1919-1920 the fee was waived by law. 
In 1927 the largest number of per- 
mits, 641, was issued.    During 1929 
the total reached 582.    The follow- 
ing table shows the number of per- 
mits issued since 1915: 
19 15  ................   ............ 
19 16  ..      ----_------ 
1917   __...........................  213 
19 18  ................................  10 0 
1 9 1 9   ------------------------........  * 
1 9 2 0   ----_-----_-----------   - 
1921     ...................   242 
1922 ................... 244 
1923  ........... ..............   259 
1924  -----------------   139 
192 5  --------------------------------  5 62 
607 
1927......    ........641 
1 928      -------      613 
1929  8-------        , r 2 
 
SportsmO~oii Wair on(Ct 
 
lt  ................................................ 
 
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