60 POPULAR OFFICIAL GUIDE. 
found from Virginia and New York to Oregon, and from 
northern Manitoba to the Gulf of Mexico, it is now numer- 
ous only in and adjacent to the Yellowstone Park, in cen- 
tral Colorado, where it is well protected, and in western 
Manitoba. The number of Elk in the National Park is 
variously estimated at from 10,000 head to a much larger 
number. 
In a wild state, the Elk feeds on grasses, weeds, and the 
leaves and twigs of various trees and shrubs. Of all Amer- 
ican deer, it is the most easy to acclimate and breed in 
captivity. Large herds are now being maintained and 
bred in numerous private game preserves in New Hamp- 
shire, New York, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and elsewhere. 
About 200 head have been released in the Adirondacks. 
The Mule Deer, (Odocoileus hemionus.—This fine animal 
is universally known throughout the Rocky Mountain re- 
gion, which constitutes its home, as the ‘‘Black-Tailed Deer.’’ 
Because of its very large ears, and the absence of a black 
tail, it is known to naturalists as the Mule Deer. Inasmuch 
as its tail is not black, the above more common name prop- 
erly applies to Odocoileus columbianus, the true black-tailed 
deer of the Pacific coast. In Manitoba this animal is called 
the ‘‘Jumping Deer,’’ because when running at a gallop, it 
makes a series of stiff-legged jumps, or ‘‘bucks,’’ of great 
length. 
The weight of full-grown bucks ranges from 250 to 300 
pounds, and specimens have been known to reach 325 
pounds. The antlers of the Mule Deer are larger and hand- 
somer than those of the white-tailed deer, and are much 
better poised on the head. Instead of dropping forward, 
they partake more of the set of an elk’s antlers, and many 
a ‘‘tenderfoot’’ hunter has mistaken a _ heavily-antlered 
Mule Deer for an elk. The antlers of a Mule Deer are 
easily distinguished from those of the white-tailed species 
by the two Y-shaped prongs on each antler. It will be re- 
membered that instead of these, the white-tailed deer antler 
bears three straight, perpendicular spikes. 
The Mule Deer makes its home in rugged ravines and 
bad lands so common along the creeks and rivers of the 
Rocky Mountain region, extending well eastward into the 
plains. Of late years it has been driven out of the most 
accessible of its former haunts, and forced to take shelter 
in the rugged fastnesses of the foothills and mountains. 
West of the Rocky Mountains is was formerly found along 
