124 
ORDERS OF 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 point 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^ inches. 
Length of head, body and tail . . . 86f “ 
Circumference of chest 78 “ 
Weight. 
Trunk 300 lbs. 
Skin, ’head and legs 255 “ 
Viscera... 151 “ 
Total live weight 706 lbs. 
Antlers. 
Length, following curves 53 inches. 
Widest spread 35 “ 
Circumference above bez tine. . . 7\ “ 
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 published, 
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 canadensis) as a basis, we find that the 
dressed weight represents .21388 of the live 
weight, or -f- §-| 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 published 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 67J inches, and their points were twelve 
