124 



ORDERS OP MAMMALS— HOOFED ANIMALS 



well haired. Tips flat. Large male 

 has finished shedding. 



July 20. Antlers are now sharp at the tips. Flies 

 troublesome. Herd bathes in the 

 pond frequently and long. 



Aug. 1 . Entire herd now free from winter pelage. 

 Animals look well in short, red sum- 

 mer coat, but smaller!' Velvet still 

 on antlers. Spots on young are all 

 gone, and white rump-patch is fully 

 developed. 



Aug. 15. Two big males began to rub velvet from 

 antlers, against trees. 



Aug. 22. Antlers of one bull almost clean, but 

 velvet still hangs in tatters, like car- 

 pet rags. Tips pure white, base looks 

 bloody. 



Sept. 15. The summer coat has been completely 

 shed. 



Oct. 1. The herd is at its best. All antlers clean 

 and perfect. Pelage long, full, and 

 rich in color. Mating season now on. 

 Bulls aggressive and dangerous. 

 Fawns active and playful. The 

 "bugle" of the bull is a shrill shriek, 

 like an English locomotive whistle, 

 sliding down the scale into a terrific 

 bawl. 



Size of Elk. — Professor L. L. Dyche, an 

 exceedingly careful observer, has contributed a 

 striking illustration of the difficulty of obtaining 

 from a dead Elk an accurate measurement of the 

 animal's standing height when alive. The largest 

 and finest male Elk ever taken by him (for the 

 State University of Kansas) fell in Colorado on 

 October 21, 1891. I can testify that it is a 

 grand representative of its species. 



As is frequently done, the guide of the party 

 measured its height in a line from the pomt of the 

 hoof to the top of the shoulder, and recorded 

 65 inches. This being ruled out, the bottom of 

 the hoof was held parallel with the axis of the 

 body, and the elbow even with the lower line of 

 the brisket. This gave 62 inches. Professor 

 Dyche then pushed the elbow up to the position 

 it occupies in a standing Elk — about five inches 

 above the lower line of the body — and found the 

 actual standing height at the shoulders to be 57 

 inches. The head and body length was 97' 

 inches; girth, 73 inches; circumference around 



abdomen, 81 inches; circumference of neck, 36 

 inches. 



On October 3, 1903, a fine bull Elk in the 

 New York Zoological Park was suffering so in- 

 tensely from a horn wound in the hock joint that 

 it was chloroformed. ~ Being in fine condition, 

 its measurements and weight were carefully 

 noted, with the following result : 



Height at the shoulders 56 J inches. 



Length of head, body and tail . . . 86| " 

 Circumference of chest 78 " 



Weight. 



Trunk 300 lbs. 



Skin,'head and legs 255 " 



Viscera 151 " 



Total five weight 706 lbs. 



Antlers. 



Length, following curves 53 inches. 



Widest spread 35 " 



Circumference above bez tine . . . 7J " 



Points 7 + 7=14. 



Age about 8 years. 



Rule for Obtaining the Live Weight of 

 Deer from Dressed Weight. — So many records 

 of the "dressed" weight of deer are pubHshed, 

 it is desirable to offer a simple rule by which 

 anyone can accurately calculate the weight of 

 the animal when alive. Taking an antlered Elk 

 {Cervus canad,ensis) as a basis, we find that the 

 dressed weight represents .21388 of the Uve 

 weight, or ^ff of the whole animal. 



The dressed weight being given, in pounds, add 

 to it five ciphers, divide by 78612, and the result 

 will be the live weight, in pounds. 



While this rule will often prove convenient, 

 the author desires to state that none of the weights 

 recorded in this volume were obtained by it ; and 

 any weight so obtained and pubHshed always 

 should be marked "as calculated." 



The longest and widest Elk antlers are not 

 necessarily the handsomest. Usually, antlers 

 that are of great length are slender, whereas the 

 finest pairs are those of massive proportions.fairly 

 symmetrical, and about 60 inches long. The 

 longest pair of reliable record to this date was 

 purchased in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1897 

 for the Emperor of Germany. Their length of 

 beam was 67^ inches, and their points were twelve 



