456 



KEPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



ings of President Roosevelt and Judge John D. Caton. Elk, or 

 wapiti, as they are more correctly called, are the most gregarious 

 of the deer family. During the early summer the mature animals 

 lead a somewhat solitary existence, the cows hiding away to rear 

 their calves and the old bulls living quietly in obscure retreats 

 while their antlers are in velvet. But in late summer they collect 

 in bands. Each old bull has his harem of females which he guards 

 jealously. If another bull approaches they engage in deadly com- 

 bat, backing off and rushing at each other or locking antlers and 

 struggling with all their might. Sometimes the antlers become 

 locked inextricably and both animals perish. More frequently, one 

 vanquishes the other. As long as he gives fight the weaker bull's 

 danger is not great for the thick skin of the neck is scarcely pene- 

 trated by the sharpest thrust of the great antlers, but if he turns 

 to flee and is gored in the flank, a serious wound is inflicted and 

 often causes death. 



Frequently a number of small bands group together, each one 

 under the leadership of its master bull. However, each retains his 

 own harem intact and jealously guarded. 



There is no semblance of gallantry among these lords of the 

 tribe. A bull will often fight desperately when attacked but he 

 fights for himself only. If his mates and young are endangered 

 when he has a chance to escape, the old bull makes no attempt to 

 defend them, but seeks safety in flight. Nor does he hesitate to 

 drive the females and young from any choice bit of food they may 

 have found, and appropriate it to himself. 



Practically all kinds of vegetable food are eaten with equal 

 relish. Weeds, grass and rushes, as well as twigs, bark and leaves, 

 are all acceptable. It is said that in winter they will thrive on 

 food coarser than that on which either deer or domestic cattle can 

 exist. 



The mating season is in September. The young are born in 

 May. In the first one or two seasons, but one young is produced. 

 Cows in their prime usually give birth to two, rarely three, calves 

 each year. 



The young are spotted, like young deer. The first autumn they 

 lose their spotted coat, becoming uniformly colored but paler than 

 the adults. About eight years are reciuired to reach full maturity, 

 though they breed the scjcond or third year. An adult Imll some- 

 tim(^s attaiTis a w(^ight of twelve or fifteen hundred pounds. 



The most remarkable thing <il)()ut the wapiti, and other members 

 of the deer family, is the rapid growth of the antlers. These begin 



