THE WAPITI 
T HOSE who admire the beautiful in animal life would probably 
present the palm to the wapiti. This giant red deer may not 
present the grandeur of the Alaskan moose, the grace and 
elegance of the Scottish red deer or the American white -tail, 
the sinuous charm of the pallah or the nobility of the black- 
maned lion or Siberian tiger, but it possesses, or did possess, 
horns of such magnificence that they are without comparison amongst other 
ruminants, except amongst the old Polish red deer of the past. There is no 
finer sight than an old bull wapiti standing on the edge of a pine forest, with 
the peerless Tetons behind him and looking what the old novelists used to 
call the “ Monarch of the Great Divide.” He is there the perfect jewel in the 
perfect setting and we are not inclined to criticize him — until he moves. In 
the open his gait is apt to be somewhat heavy, though he advances with a 
certain pride of carriage that in a measure obviates this, but when we see 
him galloping through a dense forest, dodging the hanging sticks and 
avoiding the windfalls, our admiration is again excited, for despite his 
massive cranial ornaments he shows the wood expert at every turn. Scared 
though he may be, you never see him crash into a green bough or touch a 
single twig that will not bend or break. He knows his forest home and his 
own limitations as well as most woodland creatures, and is little of a fool 
unless driven into the open by winter privation. 
The forms of wapiti which, I think, should be recognized by those who 
believe in local races are as follows: 
Cervus canadensis (Erxleben). The typical form. 
C. c. occidentalis (H. Smith). A dark wapiti with long and thin horns, 
found in the Olympics, Washington and British Columbia. 
(C.c. roosevelti is practically the same as the last-named, only that the 
horns are short and inclined to “ crown ” at the top. Habitat, Vancouver 
Island.) 
C. c. merriami (Nelson). Paler and more red than the typical form. 
C. c. nannodes (Merriam). The very pale and dwarf wapiti of Southern 
California. 
C. c. manitobensis (sub -spec. nov.). The darkest form of the wapiti, 
with very dark neck and sandy brown upper parts and small horns, rarely 
exceeding 50 inches. Habitat, Manitoba and Eastern Saskatchewan. 
There are very fine wapiti still existing on the east side of the main 
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