Antelopes, Beavers

Scouts of Chief Forester William Buckhout Greeley combed the National Forests, climbed mountains, counting big game animals for the Department of Agriculture. Assistant Forester Will C. Barnes, for Secretary Jardine, last week announced the results of the census. C. Young antelopes can be raised on the bottle and old antelopes, fence-fearing, flourish on the open ranges. The U. S. now has 7,665 of these animals, of which 2,157 are in Arizona, only two in South Dakota.

P: Alaska holds 2,500 giant brown bears, classified with the grizzly in the census. Outside that territory, diligent search could produce but 880 grizzlies, half in Montana and none in California. One lone grizzly roams the state of Oregon; one dwells at Wasatch, Utah. Alarmed, the department reported: "The buffalo was never half as near total extinction as is the grizzly today." Ordinary, garden-variety black and brown bears have multiplied. C. Deer, elk, mountain goats and sheep show encouraging increases, while the national forests see few moose.

P: Appropriately, the department noted the prevalence of beavers in the West. Beavers, like Beavermen, are natural engineers. Unlike Beavermen, they eat water lilies, taste like pork, have trowel-like, scaly tails.