The Wapiti . 31 



up their lips and grinding their teeth, and whenever there is 

 not a post between them and an intruder they charge against 

 the wire fence ; they know by experience that they will hurt 

 themselves if they charge at the posts. 



The wires of the fence must be exceptionally stout, as a 

 wapiti is so strong and heavy. The big bull I shot weighed 

 710 Ibs., and he was thin after the rutting-season ; an Altai- 

 wapiti weighed 800 Ibs. 



The cross between the wapiti and red deer makes a fine 

 stag. One I shot when he was only a four-year-old weighed 

 484 Ibs. His sister (I bought the two from Hagenbeck 

 and did not see their sire or dam) is quite a small hind, hardly 

 larger than a pure red deer, but her calves when bred to wapiti 

 bulls are very big. These deer are described in the next section. 



One of my wapiti bulls, illustrated on opposite page, had five 

 points (2 and 3) for his first set of horns, and his next antlers 

 had twelve points ; and I have a royal, almost typical red deer 

 type, in a two-year-old wapiti bull. 



