THE AMERICAN ELK 
121 
forehead, neck and shoulders, without its dimin- 
ishing his energy in the least. 
Solitary bucks in small corrals are most dan- 
gerous. Where deer run in a large herd, the 
danger is much less; but if a herd-buck begins 
to approach people with the slow stride of a 
pugilist, lips and nose turned up, ears laid back, 
and snorting defiantly, shut him up at once, or 
saw off his antlers close to his head, before he 
does mischief. 
locked, wild deer are much given to fighting 
during the rutting season. It is to be remem- 
bered, however, that male deer are in the habit 
of playfully sparring with their horns, and it is 
very likely that many a death-lock has been due 
to a pushing-match rather than to deadly com- 
bat. The antlers of our white-tailed and mule 
deer are peculiarly adapted to the fatal inter- 
locking that has caused many a fine buck to 
perish miserably by slow starvation. In cap- 
Photographed by E. R. Sanborn, New York Zoological Park, 1903. 
A MODEL AMERICAN ELK, IN OCTOBER. 
Fighting Among Deer. — Even among them- 
selves, deer are murderous brutes. It is 
quite a common thing for one buck to treach- 
erously assassinate another; and some are such 
thorough degenerates they will murder their 
own does and fawns. The largest and hand- 
somest bucks are not always the best fight- 
ers, for they often lack the activity and youth- 
ful vigor which gives supremacy to a younger 
animal. 
Judging by the number of pairs of deer that 
have been found dead with their antlers tightly 
tivity, pushing-matches amongst deer are quite 
common. 
The Round-Horned Deer. 
The American Elk, or Wapiti , 1 is as tall 
as a horse, handsomely formed, luxuriantly 
maned, carries its head proudly, and is crowned 
by a pair of very imposing antlers. Even the 
doe Elk is a handsome and stately creature; and 
1 Cer'vus can-a-den'sis. In Europe, this animal 
is called the Wapiti; and the European Moose is 
called the “ Elk.” 
