1936] MAMMALS OF OREGON 83 



Forest Service reported on the Cascade 245, Crater 70, Deschutes 

 60, Mount Hood 129, Santiam 30, Siskiyou 30, Siuslaw 279, a total 

 of 843 elk in western Oregon. Most of these however, were intro- 

 duced Rocky Mountain elk. 



In the big-game report of the Forest Service for 1932, 40 elk were 

 estimated on the Siskiyou National Forest and 390 on the Siuslaw, all 

 that can be positively ascribed to Cervus c. roosevelti, although some 

 of those from the west slope of the Cascades may belong to this 

 native form. 



General habits. Originally the elk of Oregon were largely animals 

 of the open country as well as of the forest, but with the settlement 

 of the open valleys they were soon driven back into the denser timber 

 and brush land of uninhabited mountain ranges. Naturally they 

 have held their own longer in the impenetrable forest and chaparral 

 of the coast ranges, where the large game have all found a natural 

 refuge. 



They are gregarious, often gathering in large bands that keep to- 

 gether through the fall and winter, and, in part, throughout the 

 year. The bulls shed their horns in February or March. The new 

 horns soon begin to start from the bases and grow rapidly through 

 the summer. By September they are full grown, hardened, and the- 

 velvet covering is peeling off. The bulls then begin to try their 

 horns on bushes and small trees, to challenge and bugle, and engage 

 in fierce combats with rivals for control of the herds. Only the 

 most powerful and vigorous bulls are able to pass on their characters 

 to future generations and so insure a strong race. 



Breeding habits. The mating season is mainly in October, and 

 the calves are born in June. One young is the rule. Twins are a 

 rare exception. The young are irregularly spotted over the sides 

 and back with white on a dark fulvous or tawny coat that is highly 

 protective in coloration. They are hidden away in the bushes until 

 old enough to run with the mother, when they gather into the bands 

 again. 



Food habits. While largely grazing animals, elk also browse on 

 a great variety of bushes, leaves, twigs, and branches of trees, and 

 to some extent on tree lichens. They are especially fond of the devils- 

 club, raspberry and salmonberry bushes, willows, blueberry bushes, 

 vine maples, cherry, Ceanothus, Holodiscus, and wild rose. A great 

 variety of herbaceous plants, including pea vines and clovers, are. 

 eaten, as well as the rich mountain grasses. They have the advantage 

 of domestic stock in a far wider range of food plants, and at all 

 seasons in this region they are assured an ample food supply. Deep 

 snow within their range is of rare occurrence and of short duration, 

 so that winter losses of this elk are rare. 



ODOCOILEUS HEMIONUS MACROTIS (SAY) 

 ROCKY MOUNTAIN MULE DEER; TUHUYA of the Piute at Burns 



Cervus macrotis Say, Long's Exped. to the Rocky Mountains, 2:88, 1825. (In 

 2-v. ed.) 



'Type locality. Mora River, near the present town of Mora, N. Mex. 



General characters. Size, largest of our North American small deer ; antlers 

 forked, often in adults twice forked ; ears very large ; tail 5 or 6 inches long, 

 slender, with bushy black tip; hoofs slender and pointed; metatarsal gland 



