CREATURES OF THE WILDERNESS 225 



other to battle royal. The wapiti does not, 

 like some other deer, hide away in the gloomy 

 depths of the forest, but, where not disturbed, 

 prefers the edge of the timber, with open 

 clearings to feed in. It grazes and browses, 

 eating all manner of grasses, as well as leaves 

 and twigs. 



The case of a sportsman (Sir Henry Seton- 

 Karr) coming right on a sleeping buffalo has 

 been quoted, and he also draws my attention 

 not only to the extraordinary watchfulness of 

 deer, but also to the curious habit of wapiti 

 and others, when in herds, leaving the sentinel 

 duty to the females. The cow wapiti is aware 

 of danger in an instant. When uncertain of 

 its nature or direction, she gives a warning 

 bark, but the least scent, even if only picked 

 up by a straggler, sends the whole herd away 

 at top speed, as if moved by a single impulse, 

 and always in the direction of safety. More- 

 over, deer are usually able and willing to help 

 one another. By way of illustrating this, Sir 

 Henry recalls the following experience : "I was 

 once stalking a good stag on a far-away island 

 of Norway. I had watched it feed into a 

 deep hollow. During the stalk, a smaller 

 stag, some distance away, got wind of me. 

 Now, instead of immediately bolting, as it 

 might reasonably have been expected to, the 

 smaller animal did his best to warn the other 



