The elk has small and shapely legs. It avoids swamps and low ground and likes to frequent mountain parks. It is also a forest animal. Formerly it ranged far out into the western edge of the great plains and it was accustomed in summer to ascend the Rocky Mountains to the very crest of the Continental Divide. To-day, however, it is abundant in one locality only—the Yellowstone National Park and the country immediately surrounding it. Elk are also found in small numbers in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Montana, Idaho and on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. However, elk are easily bred in confinement, and many good herds have been established in great private game preserves. In addition to these, there are many small herds in private parks.
The elk sheds its antlers each year. The antlers of one of the largest males in the New York Zoological Park dropped on March twenty-first nine hours apart. On April 8th each budding antler looked like a big brown tomato. Ten days later the new antlers were about five inches long, thick and stumpy. By May 10th the elk was shedding its hair freely. On June 18th the antlers were at full length. By August 1st the short red summer coat of hair was established, and the antlers were still “in velvet,” The elk then began to rub the velvet from its antlers against the trees.
By September 15th the summer coat of the elk herd had been completely shed. On October 1st the entire herd was at its best. All antlers were clean and perfect. The hair of the skin was long, full and rich in color. This is the mating season of the elk when the bulls are aggressive and dangerous.
Elk are often very unsuspicious and at times so stupid that hunting them is not so exhilarating a sport as it might seem.
BASED ON MATERIAL DRAWN FROM “THE AMERICAN NATURAL HISTORY,” COPYRIGHT 1904, BY WILLIAM T. HORNADAY
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. 4. No. 13. SERIAL No. 113
FROM PHOTOGRAPH BY CARL RUNGIUS
MOUNTAIN SHEEP