50 BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA. 



clover-field, the springing wheat, or the bark of the apple- 

 trees that grow in the ranchman's fields or orchards. 

 True, when in severe winters the deep snows that have 

 fallen on the mountains drive herds of Elk down into the 

 settled valleys, they frequently join the settler's cattle, and 

 remain on good terms with the latter, but usually soon fall 

 victims to the ranchman's rifle. 



Tlieir principal food consists of grasses, mosses, and 

 lichens. In times of continued storms, they browse and 

 keep fat for weeks on the boughs and bark of maple, alder, 

 willow, and cottonwood trees; but if the snow is not too 

 deep, they paw the ground bare, in order to procure grass, 

 lichens, and mosses. In the spring, they follow the receding 

 snows until they reach the higher mountain valleys — their 

 summer quarters and breeding-grounds. Here the grass, 

 nipped weekly by frosts, is sweet, and just to their taste. 



No sight could be more interesting to the hunter-natu- 

 ralist than to watch a herd of Elk feeding in one of these 

 secluded mountain valleys. If there be a stream running 

 through the valley, bordered by a sand-bar, the entire 

 band makes this their sleeping-place; and the bands always 

 assume the same position in sleeping — the calves, cows, and 

 yearlings in the center, and the bucks around the outer 

 edge of the circle, so that in case of a night attack by 

 Wolves or Panthers the strongest will meet the first onset 

 of the foe. 



Unlike others of the Deer tribe, the Elk do not often 

 feed at night, but are stirring with the earliest dawn. 

 Nothing is so indescribably beautiful as the motion of the 

 head of an Elk when grazing. It is the very poetry of 

 motion spiritualized. When the band is feeding, the leader 

 will, every few minutes, stop grazing, elevate his head, and 

 scan the valley for signs of danger. They feed until about 

 eight o'clock in the morning, and then retire to their sand- 

 bar; or if it be in the time of rubbing the velvet from their 

 horns, the bulls seek tlieir thrashing-grounds, and rub their 

 horns vigorously. Then they lie down on some open south- 

 ern hill-side, and expose their horns to the rays of the sun. 



