The Wapiti or Round- horned Elk 141 



by the master bull. Frequently several such herds 

 joined together into a great band. Before the 

 season was fairly on, when the bulls had not 

 been worked into actual frenzy, there was not 

 much fighting in these bands. Later they were 

 the scenes of desperate combats. Each master 

 bull strove to keep his harem under his own eyes, 

 and was always threatening and fighting the other 

 master bulls, as well as those bulls whose prowess 

 had proved insufficient hitherto to gain them a 

 band, or who after having gained one had been 

 so exhausted and weakened as to succumb to 

 some new aspirant for the leadership. The bulls 

 were calling and challenging all the time, and 

 there was ceaseless turmoil, owing to their fights 

 and their driving the cows around. The cows 

 were, more wary than the bulls, and there were so 

 many keen noses and fairly good eyes that it was 

 difficult to approach a herd ; whereas the single 

 bulls were so noisy, careless, and excited that it 

 was comparatively easy to stalk them. A rutting 

 wapiti bull is as wicked looking a creature as 

 can be imagined, swaggering among the cows and 

 threatening the young bulls, his jaws mouthing 

 and working in a kind of ugly leer. 



The bulls fight desperately with one another. 

 The two combatants come together with a re- 

 sounding clash of antlers, and then push and 

 strain with their mouths open. The skin on 



