The mountains at the head of Toklat and Teklanika rivers literally swarm with the magnificent white bighorn sheep, which are elsewhere extremely wary and difficult to approach, but which in summer are here so little disturbed that they move off only when one comes to close range. A day's travel along one of these valleys will usually afford the casual traveler a view of many bands of sheep. The sheep range on the lower slopes of the mountains, especially in the upper reaches of the streams, near the glaciers at the valley heads, or even in the valley bottoms.
I have counted over in a single day's journey of 10 miles along the river bars, and doubtless as many more were unobserved in the tributary valleys beyond my view.
From a single point at my tent door one evening I counted nine bands of sheep, containing in all animals. The bighorn sheep prefers the slopes of high, rough mountains for its range, and may be found only in the mountains, within easy reach of rugged crags, to which it may retreat for safety from its enemies. Its range, therefore, lies between timber-line and the level of perpetual snow.
It is difficult to make an accurate estimate of the number of sheep within the new park, but in the part that we visited there are easily 5, sheep, their range extending westward throughout the mountainous portion of the park.
I remember well my first big day for caribou. The pack-train had gone ahead to pitch camp at a prearranged spot near the last spruce timber on the main Toklat, and I was examining the rocks a few miles east of the camping place.
Herds of sheep were scattered along the ridges, some feeding on the tender grasses, some sleeping in the sun. I was far above timber-line and my view was unobstructed for miles in all directions. With my glass I had already counted half a dozen solitary caribou, all young bulls, grazing among the stunted willows of the stream flats. Soon my attention was attracted by a sight unusual in this district—a frightened caribou bull, which was running from the direction in which my pack-train had gone.
Soon two yearlings came rushing from the same quarter; then a cow and a young calf in full flight, the cow with tongue out and sides heaving and the calf following closely, but in no apparent distress. Then more came, singly or in twos and threes. Soon a lone calf, lost from its mother, passed close to me, uttering plaintive grunts.
As I approached the main river valley from which the frightened animals came, I met the main herd, twenty-five or more, walking slowly up a narrow gulch a hundred yards from me, and apparently unworried by the presence of strangers on their range. During the next few days I saw more caribou than I dreamed existed in any one locality, including a herd of which was viewed at close range on the Toklat bars. In the pass between Toklat and Stony rivers the two pack-trains and eight men stood in the midst of a vast herd, scattered for miles in all directions.
We counted with the naked eye over a thousand within half a mile of us, and hundreds of others could be seen too far away for accurate count. In order not to exaggerate, even to ourselves, we estimated the number in sight at one time as 1,, and I believe that this is an understatement of the number actually there.
Most of them were cows and calves or yearlings, but there were a few old bulls, conspicuous for their towering horns. During the following week we constantly saw herds of caribou, some of them numbering hundreds.
Most of these herds were on the bare gravel bars, where the strong winds afford some relief from the attacks by flies and mosquitos. Other herds were high on rugged mountain ridges, and several large droves were observed far up on the glaciers well toward snow-line, seeking a little respite from insect pests. In other parts of Alaska caribou at times appear in huge droves as they migrate from place to place, but they stay only a short time in any one locality.
In the Toklat basin and in the vicinity of Muldrow Glacier, however, the caribou are at home, and they remain there throughout the summer to rear their young. There is abundant indication that this is a permanent range.
Deeply worn trails form a veritable labyrinth along the stream flats, and bedding grounds, old and new, occur everywhere. The miners from the Kantishna report that caribou may always be seen in great numbers on this range.
There is a striking difference between the actions of caribou and those of the bighorn sheep when surprised by man. A sheep, once aroused, knows exactly where he wants to go, and usually starts, without a moment's hesitation, on the shortest route to some rugged mountain mass. He may stop to look around and appraise the danger, but he is sure to follow the route he first chose.
By contrast, the caribou appears a foolish animal; he seems at a loss to decide whether it is necessary to run away at all. Then, when convinced that danger threatens, he has difficulty in making up his mind which way to run. He has sharp eyes for any moving object, but evidently refuses to trust his sight until his nose confirms his sense of danger. I have many times seen a caribou, after he has discovered me at a distance of no more than yards, stand and look, snort, lower his head half a dozen times, then run wildly off for a short distance, turn back toward me, repeat the same maneuvers, and make several false, zigzag sprints, all within easy gunshot, before he finally ran to leeward, got the man scent, and started off for good in great panic.
In this region, with proper caution and a favoring wind, one can approach within yards or less of a band of caribou, even in the open, before they take alarm and move away. Moose are very plentiful in certain parts of the new park, but are not so commonly seen as sheep and caribou.
As their food supply consists of willow and birch twigs and leaves and the succulent roots of water plants, they stay much of the time in timbered and brushy areas, where they are inconspicuous. By nature, too, the moose is a wary animal and permits much less familiarity than the caribou.
The best moose country in this region lies in the lowlands north of the main Alaska Range, outside of the boundaries of the proposed park; but some moose were seen within the park lines, and doubtless more of them will take refuge in this game preserve when they are more vigorously hunted in the neighboring regions.
It is said that there is an excellent moose range within the park, in the area southwest of that which we visited. There are some black, brown, and grizzly bears in this district, but the bear hunter has a much better chance of obtaining a hide in other parts of Alaska than he has here.
All told, only eight bears were seen by the members of the two survey parties during the last summer, and bear sign was so little noted in this region that it cannot be considered an especially good bear country. The park contains good trapping grounds for the fur hunter, and a number of trappers spend part of each winter there. But why? Numbers Game: Are You Desirable?
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