48 BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



feet, and grind her teeth savagely. At the sound of her 

 cry, all the Elk in the vicinity (and the bulls at this time 

 are never far away) come rushing in wild haste, and woe 

 betide the intruder; for, although their horns are at this 

 time but feeble weapons of offense or defense, their hoofs 

 are sharp, and, surrounding the intruder, they leap upon 

 and trample him to pieces. By a wise provision of Nature, 

 the calves emit no scent to attract prowling camivora, and 

 so such attacks are not frequent. 



Should the cow be alarmed while feeding in comj)any 

 with the calf, she will at once stamp her foot, and the calf 

 v^^ill drop to the ground and lie motionless. It will also 

 '"possum," and should it be lifted in the arms of a human 

 being, it will lie limp and motionless. Only the beautiful 

 eye will betray it, as it forgets to shut its glistening orb, 

 and so reveals the sham. 



The cows rarely produce more than one calf, though 

 occasionally two are dropped. The calves remain with the 

 cows until four or five months old; then, in company with 

 their mothers, they join the larger bands. During the rut- 

 ting-season the calves remain with the cows. The cow Elk 

 usually drojDS her first calf at two years of age. 



The natural gait of the Elk is a walk. They trot or gal- 

 lop when alarmed, but can not sustain the latter gait for 

 any great length of time. During the rutting-season, or 

 shortly before it begins, when traveling, the bulls are always 

 in advance, the cows and fawns in the center, and the rear 

 is brought up by the spike-bulls. No body of trained 

 soldiers could move w^itli more discipline or regularity than 

 a herd of Elk. The band always acknowledges one leader, 

 the largest and strongest bull in the herd. Should he be 

 shot, the band falls into hopeless confusion, and rushes 

 about like demented creatures. The Indian hunters, aware 

 of this fact, will follow on the trail of a band day after 

 day, often refusing good opportunities to slay other mem- 

 bers of the band, until an opportunity i!^ afforded of shoot- 

 ing the leader. When this is done, the remaining members 

 of the band fall victims one by one. 



