93 8 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED MAMMALS 



year; and in the pairing season taking exclusive possession of a party of hinds, after 

 having vanquished their rivals in fight. The shedding of the antlers is late, gener- 

 ally taking place in the full-grown stags during the latter part of December or the 

 first half of January. The new antlers begin to sprout in March or April, and are 

 fully complete by the middle of August. At this time the old stags begin to call, 

 the note being a roar very like that of the hangul. It has, however, been compared 

 to the bray of a donkey; and it is suggested that it is partly from this that the 

 wapiti has received the nickname of "jackass deer," bestowed upon it by the traders 

 in the Rocky mountains. 



During May, Mr. Perry states that the wapiti desert the lower hills to take ref- 

 uge in the higher ranges, getting as near as possible to the snow line without leav- 

 ing the upper belt of forest. The hinds then leave the herds to give birth to their 

 fawns in the most secluded thickets. Usually there is but a single fawn produced 

 at a birth, although two do not appear to be very unfrequent. The hind will fight 

 to the death in the defense of her helpless offspring against the onslaught of puma, 

 bear, or coyote. At such times she gives utterance to a loud cry, which at once 

 brings to her aid all the members of the herd which may be in the vicinity, and all 

 of which unite in driving off the foe. 



The wapiti is a promiscuous, not to say a coarse, feeder. Mr. Caton says that 

 " all the grasses and most of the weeds within his reach are taken freely, and the 

 leaves and trees of all the deciduous trees are alike enjoyed. A considerable propor- 

 tion of his daily food he desires to be arboreous, yet if deprived of it he will keep in 

 good condition on herbaceous food alone. In winter he will take the coarsest food, 

 even that which the horse and the ox reject, he will eat freely." The venison, al- 

 though unlike that of other deer, is of fine flavor, and is said to be more nutritious 

 than any other meat. 



A combat between two male wapiti during the pairing season is described by 

 Mr. Perry as follows: "The challenger, when approaching a band, or harem, blows 

 a loud whistle of defiance. (Take a half-pint bottle and blow strongly into it, and 

 the sound so produced will be similar to the call of the male wapiti during the rut- 

 ting season.) This whistle is at once answered by the ruler of the herd, who steps 

 boldly forth to do battle with the intruder. With heads lowered between their fore- 

 feet, the two adversaries walk around waiting for an opening, and when one is 

 thrown off his guard the other makes a savage rush; but his opponent instantly re- 

 covers, counters the charge, and as they rush together the antlers strike each other 

 with such terrific force that the report can be heard for a long distance. Slowly re- 

 treating, bellowing, grumbling and grinding their teeth in a paroxysm ofjage, they 

 again circle around, and when an opportunity is afforded, make another charge, 

 which is countered as before. The challenging wapiti usually does most of the of- 

 fensive fighting until he finds ( if such be the case ) that he is the weaker, then he 

 sullenly retires, bellowing as he goes. These battles are seldom fatal, and during 

 the rutting season are an everyday occurrence. Ugly wounds often result from 

 them, and sometimes a prong of an antler is broken in the affray." 



Wapiti differ from the majority of the deer tribe in that they do not feed during 

 the night, although they are on the move with the first streak of dawn. From that 



