Wapiti or Elk 55 



The crowning glory of the stag is his antlers, and the antlers 

 Wapiti, the finest stag in the world, has antlers befitting his 

 size and dignity. 



While the cows among the mountain valleys devote all 

 summer to the calves, the bulls at a much higher elevation, 

 above the torment of heat and flies, have consecrated their 

 entire energies to the growing of new antlers. If it were not 

 like arguing in an egg-and-chicken circle, we might claim that 

 the production of these antlers is the whole end and aim of 

 the Wapiti's existence. Their growth is one of the miracles 

 of nature that we never cease to consider a miracle. 



About the end of the winter — that is, in mid-March — the 

 antlers of the year before break off flush with their horny 

 base an inch or more above the skull. Frequently they are 

 found lying close together, showing that they fall nearly at the 

 same time. 



At first the place of each antler is a broad raw spot. A 

 few days later it shows a thick rounded pad of blood-gorged 

 skin. This swells rapidly and, in a fortnight, the great, bulbous, 

 fuzzy young antler-beginning has shot up to a height of several 

 inches. At exactly the right time and place, and in just the 

 right direction, a bump comes forth to be the foundation of 

 the brow tine. In a few days the bez-tine is projected by the 

 invisible architect. In a month the structure is nearly a foot 

 high and all enveloped in a turgid mass of feverish, throbbing 

 blood-vessels — the scaffolding and workmen of this wonderful 

 structure. Night and day the work is pushed with astounding 

 speed, and in four months this "skyscraper" is finished. A 

 marvel, indeed; an edifice that, according to ordinary rules, 

 would have taken a lifetime, and yet it has been rushed through 

 in a single summer. 



August sees the building done, but it is still cluttered 

 with scaffolding. The supplies of blood at the base are now 

 reduced. But the antler is still in vital touch with the animal; 

 it begins to die when the process of peeling is begun. The 

 sensitiveness leaves each part, the velvet covering soon dries, 

 cracks, and peels, and the stag assists the process of clearing 



