WAPITI 255 



Cariboo, Okanagan and Vancouver, they are to be 

 found. 



In the autumn the wapiti or elk, Cervus Canadensis^ 

 in the first flush of realized adult age, rings out its 

 bugle challenge on the border of the forest. The 

 Cree Indian called it the wa-was-ka-sioo. The 

 muskoos was the name by which it was known to 

 the Salteaux tribes. The coat of the bull probably 

 determined its name. Wapiti means white deer, and 

 its bleached colour suggests the title. In December 

 it sheds its antlers, which break off close to the skull. 

 On the young bull they grow with great rapidity. 

 The grey tints of the body grow darker along the 

 spine, and a brown tinge spreads from the head down 

 the neck and legs. The breast and underpart are 

 red, and black stripes set off the hams. A splash 

 of white extends down each side of the tail, and the 

 animal is white between the legs. The bull has the 

 marks and pose of strength and grace in the fine- 

 shaped head and the well-set body. The growing 

 antlers on which his masterful prowess depends, 

 frequently to his own undoing, are rubbed against 

 the trees, as if they were a source of great irritation 

 during their unset condition. The bushes near its 

 haunt are often stained with blood. The fuller 

 growth goes on from year to year, the points of the 

 antlers marking definite stages until the fourth and 

 fifth year is reached, when they cease to grow with 

 regularity. 



