1486 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



THE ANTLERS, OF WHICH WHITE PATCH HAD BEEN SO PROUD, DROPPED OFF 



During the day they rested, or roamed over 

 the wind-swept hills, and during the night they 

 descended to the creek bottoms among the wil- 

 lows. They could no longer get the alkali 

 salt to keep them healthy. Grass was scarce, 

 and hard to find. The willow twigs they ate 

 along the creek caused them to "lose their cud" ; 

 as the cattlemen say. The cows were no longer 

 able to nourish their calves, and White Patch 

 saw his late companions, one by one, grow thin 

 and weak, and succumb to hunger and the cruel, 

 winter weather. But his robust condition given 

 him by his prime-conditioned mother enablti 

 him to withstand the long winter, though only 

 a shadow of his former self. 



As the snow began to go and he got a little 

 green grass, he gained in strength. When the 

 herd he was with got to the first alkali-lick on 

 the way to their summer home, he improved 

 very fast, and his old and faded winter coat 

 of hair began to fall off. But what concerned 

 him most, however, was the throbbing in his 

 head, where a small knot began to appear over 

 each eye. He remained with the herd, and as 

 spring advanced cows began to join, each with 

 a little spotted fawn as he remembered the com- 

 panions of his youth. And though they played 

 the same games and ran just as swift races, he 

 had no inclination to join them. 



His old gray coat was all gone, he had a new 

 red suit, and his horns were growing a curving 

 spike with one point, each covered with short 

 red hair, and he was very proud and took good 

 care of them. His red coat began to turn a light 

 cream trimmed with brown in the flanks, and 

 his "tusks" were grown to considerable size. 



Again he heard the bugle-call, and a great 

 male elk joined the herd. This fellow White 

 Patch thought very cruel. Several times he 

 barely escaped being gored by him, and he was 

 not sorry when, a few days later, another bugle 

 was heard and another antlered king came from 

 the woods. The new-comer advanced and of- 

 fered to give battle, but the cruel male was a 

 coward, and seeming to see the battle going the 

 wrong way he discreetly withdrew. 



One day when all seemed peace and content- 

 ment, and the elk were lying in the green tim- 

 ber, busily chewing their cud, like a lightning 

 bolt from a clear sky, four gray animals sprang 

 among them. In a moment all was consterna- 

 tion and flight. As if bj' prearranged plan, the 

 gray intruders fell upon a yearling female and 

 quickly pulled her to the ground. Thus was 

 one of the few remaining young comjDanions of 

 White Patch snatched away. The gray wolves 

 had taken toll from the herd. 



