THE GAME ANIMALS OF CANADA 39 
from British Columbia herds is already beginning to wander, 
as shown by the reports that I have already quoted. 
The foregoing review of the present status of the wapiti 
in Canada affords ground for optimism with regard to the 
future of this, the most magnificent of our native deer. If 
the encouragement and almost complete protection that 
they are now receiving is continued and with the increase 
of public sentiment in favour of such protection—we have 
every reason to believe that it will be maintained—the 
wapiti will continue to increase in those parts of Canada 
most adapted to its needs and mode of life, and where it 
formerly existed in abundance. 
Habits of the Wapitt.—The feeding habits of the wapiti 
vary somewhat according to the season of the year. For- 
merly, when it enjoyed an extensive range, it usually re- 
treated to the wooded slopes of the mountains and other 
wooded regions during the summer season, and there it 
browsed on buds, leaves, and twigs, and grazed on such 
woodland grasses as it might find. It is an animal with 
both browsing and grazing habits. In the winter it 
wandered on the open prairies and grazed where the snow 
was not too deep. Deep snow usually compels them to 
seek the wooded regions. The best country for the wapiti 
is one which combines such summer and winter range as 
I have described. 
During the summer the bulls lead a solitary life and by 
September their splendid antlers have attained their full 
size. They are very polygamous animals, and, at this season 
of the year, fully prepared for struggles with other bulls for 
the control of as large a band of cows as they can secure, 
they challenge their rivals to combat. In regions inhabited 
by the wapiti the wild call of the bull is an inspiring sound. 
Followed by his band of cows he climbs the crest of any 
near-by hill, and utters the well-known bugle-notes. The 
first guttural notes are roared out in an ascending scale 
