2^0 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



the hides or teeth. The former have little value, but the two small tusks called the 

 " ivories," found in the upper jaw, have by a strange perversion, and without the 

 approval of its ofificers, become fashionable as a badge among some of the members 

 of a well-known society. 



So, many a noble beast has died in the snow, leaving head, hide and carcass to 

 rot untouched, to furnish a foolish ornament to some fat and worthy clubman who 

 never saw forest, mountain, or camp fire, and is so ignorant of the lore of his own 

 fraternity as not to know the difference between the great prehistoric Irish Elk, 

 from which it derives its name, and the American Wapiti, which is technical!}^ no 

 elk at all. 



We have heard so much of the SPORT of elk hunting from all sorts of writers 

 from the President down, that it seems ungracious to find fault with it. But they 

 are a very large animal, a naturally tame and stupid animal, and a gregarious animal. 

 With the wind in my favor and by keeping absolutely still I have had a herd browse 

 up so close that I could have touched them with my hand ; and during the rutting 

 season the bulls will, if alone, come trotting up to even a very poor imitation of 

 their "whistle," or keep on answering it if with the herd. 



I do hope that if introduced here it will be as a " beast of ornament," not as a 

 " beast of the chase." One live elk is worth more to any forest than a ton of his 

 meat, and neither are worth failing to welcome all our fellow-citizens to our beauti- 

 ful State, and making them forget its advantages by vexatious game laws founded 

 on local prejudice and petty spite.* 



The wapiti is a large dun or slate colored deer with slender legs, a black face, 

 pointed nose, and a curious looking light colored patch on the rump. The males 

 weigh abou'; eight hundred pounds or more, and their fine antlers are too well known 

 to need description. They formerly inhabited the slopes of the Alleghanies, and 

 roamed in vast bands over the broken prairies of the upper Missouri. To-day they 

 are found only in the western mountains, and I can but describe their habits as I 

 know them there. It is the common usage to speak of bull, cow and calf elks ; but 

 there is nothing bovii J in their ways and habits, the young especially being far 

 more like colts than calves in their play, and having the same trick of working their 

 lips when trying to make friends with an older or stronger animal. 



They are born in May or June and stay with their mothers during the summer, 

 but they are foolish, trusting little beasts, and will come whinnying at a gallop toward 



*The laws of Wyoming require every non-resident of that State to pay a license of forty dollars, 

 whicli allows him to kill two ellv only; and also that he shall not go hunting unless accompanied by a hired 

 "guide," who will act as a spy on his actions. No one but a resident of Wyoming can be a guide; 

 but any resident can by paying one dollar, whether he knows anything about the mountains or not. 



