MAMMALS OF AMERICA 



Dr. Hornaday as " a shrill shriek, like an English 

 locomotive whistle, sliding down the scale into 

 a terrific bawl " : but Colonel Roosevelt considers 

 that, " heard at a little distance, and in its proper 

 place, it is one of the grandest and most beautiful 

 sounds in nature." The fawns, usually one or 

 two, but occasionally three, are born in May or 

 June and sometimes as late as August. Their 

 coats are spotted, but the spots disappear in 

 twelve or thirteen weeks. 



Except in late spring and summer. Wapiti 

 are restless, roving animals. Their migrations 

 vary in different places both in regard to distance 

 and to time. In the old times, before they had 

 been molested by man, herds were known to 



Photograph by H. N. Stabeck 



ELK AT HOME 



The Elk enjoys a timbered country such as this, where it 

 obtain both protection and food 



may 



travel as far as 200 miles. The \\'apiti in the 

 Yellowstone National park migrate south every 

 winter to Jackson's Hole. 



The Wapiti has been described as " the most 

 omnivorous of the vegetarians." It both browses 

 and grazes, eating grasses, leaves, and especially 

 the buds and tender shoots of deciduous shrubs. 

 It is fond of the water, and is equally at home 

 among the high mountains, in the deep forests, 

 and on treeless plains. 



The economic value of the \\'apiti as a food 

 animal has not hitherto been sufficiently appre- 

 ciated. It is easily domesticated, becoming in 

 three or four generations " as gentle as sheep 

 that run wild." It is less nervous and more 

 easily confined than the ordinary deer. Given 

 suitable State regulations for killing and market- 

 ing, elk venison could be raised more cheaply 

 than beef, mutton, or pork. A cow Wapiti yields 

 a considerably larger percentage of dressed meat 



than cattle. But the existing regulations are 

 prohibitive of successful elk-raising. In some 

 States the railway companies are precluded from 

 carrying venison at all except in the open season ; 

 and persons who keep deer in confinement are 

 subject to a ta.x, and if they wish to kill one of 

 their own animals have to pay a fee before the 

 State accords the privilege of slaughtering. The 

 foregoing opinions are those generally held by 

 men who have raised Wapiti successfully, so far 

 as increase of the herds is concerned ; and as the 

 venison is admitted by scientific experts to form 

 a highly nourishing article of diet, it is to be 

 hoped further legislation may result in the estab- 

 lishment of a new and useful industry. 



The Wapiti has often been trained to run in 

 harness, and " trotting elks " have frequently 

 been a feature of county fairs. Some years ago 

 Mr. W. H. Barnes, of Sioux City, " drove a pair 

 of Wapiti to a light wagon, and trained one to 

 dive into a pool of water thirty feet below." 



The natural gait of \\'apiti is a walk. They 

 trot with a long, graceful stride, and seldom 

 break into a gallop unless much alarmed ; but 

 they cannot sustain the latter gait for any great 

 length of time. 



"Wapiti are extremely graceful creatures; 

 their every move is the poetry of motion,'" says 

 Singer. " I call to mind an especially beautiful 

 scene. On the brow of a hill, silhouetted against 

 the sky in the early dawn, fed a large band of 

 Wapiti. First came the cows and calves, with 

 their long, slender legs, small, well-formed heads, 

 big ears and coats that glistened like satin in the 

 early light. At the rear strode the ruler of the 

 hand, a fine, lordly stag. What a splendid 

 picture they made, sharply defined against the 

 tinted sky! " 



The same sportsman gives the following vivid 

 picture of a battle royal between two bull elk: 

 " Up the mountain he came, the second stag who 

 elected to do battle. Defiant and mad all through 

 stood the big fellow up the slope, under the big 

 spruce. But now, as his wrath grew with each 

 approaching step of the bold intruder, he at last 

 broke his wonderful pose, stamped his hoof in 

 furious rage, and roared a threatening challenge 

 to his foe. What the intruding stag lacked in 

 stature he seemed to more than make up in 

 courage, for he showed no intention of being 

 turned aside by anything less than a battle ending 

 in his defeat. 



" \\'hat looked to be twenty feet was all that 

 now intervened between the two great lords of 

 the wilderness. Then, as if by silent command, 

 the battle was on. ^^'ith heads lowered between 



