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LIVES OF WYOMING ELK Notes of the Life History of Famous American Animal AH American Practical Writes Ills lateretttlng Experiences The annual life of the male elk in Wyoming may be divided into three parts summer autumn and winter recuperation realization and deterioration We see them on May 1 shedding their heavy coat of winter hair and they appear in a scanty growth of light red Their horns have now begun their new growth and they require plenty of young growing vegetation to build up their weakened con ¬ dition and plenty of alkali salt as a tonic for their wasted system and to form tlie base of their im ¬ mense antlers antlersThe The adult males at this season of the year seek seclusion near the snowcovered mountain summits and spend the summer in bands of a few individu ¬ als They visit the salt licks almost daily and their antlers make rapid growth growthAt At one year of age all males have spikes from ten to eighteen inches in length according to the physical condition of the animal and the males re ¬ main through the summer witli the cows and calves At two years of age they have three or four points and invariably spend the summer away from the herds At three years they have five light points At four years they have five heavier or six light points At five years and thereafter six points the horns getting more massive and the animal heavier in body for the next four or five years Then they begin to deteriorate iiud are now apt to have more than the regular six points but if so they arc generally smaller in size and not so symmetrical in shape shapeThe The horns are fully developed about August 1 Then the circulating fluid is shut off and they lie in the sun to dry and harden them The velvet is rubbed off and the horns stained brown by nib ¬ bing them in the brush and the points polished white by hooking them in the ground This exer ¬ cise practiced almost constantly develops the cords and muscles of the neck and shoulders and is na ¬ tures way of strengthening and training them for their coming battles battlesTHE THE ELK IN ITS WINTER BEAUTY BEAUTYIn In the meantime the thin coat of red hair has been replaced by a thick gray or pale cream trimmed with a dark brown on the legs and flanks and the neck grown heavy and strong is covered with a thick growth of long brown hair Thus we find him September 1 fully recuperated the handsomest largest and most noble of the deer family his bugle challenge reverberating over the hills His eye and bearing denote courage and beauty his every movement grace and strength and he stands with every sense alert every muscle tense longing for his lady loves lovesIn In the fierce fights that follow for supremacy nature chooses the most fit to perpetuate the sixcies The weaker and immature males are driven from the herds by the stronger and more perfect animals In these fights a charge is made and met with head held low and all feet braced then there is parry and thrust for position Now the need of training is manifest and their great strength taxed to its utmost but if well matched it seems impossible to penetrate the others guard This they well know so standing close facing with heads held high in the air aiul emitting a peculiar clicking sound for a few minutes they rear into the air to their utmost height and with their fore feet rain blows upon each other In this way the victor is acknowledged The weaker animal must quickly flee to save his flanks from the quick rush and cruel thrust of the victor One male elk can successfully guard twelve or fifteen females If one of these begin to stray from the herd he quickly and firmly drives her back If another male tries to enter the herd if inferior be is quickly driven away if not a fierce fight nsues The van ¬ quished is driven off the victor taking charge of the herd If the bitter is killed by some lucky hunter another male elk immediately takes charge of the herd If the hunter is not successful and the herds runs the cows take the lead the male bringing up the rear and it possible driving all the cows before him and keeping the other males bsMHt Sometimes a younger bull makes a quick dash cuts a female from the herd driving her before him with the other bull in pursuit Then is beard the angry clicking sound daring the other to stop and fight fightMIGRATING MIGRATING TO THE WINTER RANGES RANGESThus Thus September passes away During October snow commences to fall at the higher levels start ¬ ing the elk toward their winter range and they begin to congregate in larger bauds sometimes several hundred or more together Then many bulls circulate among them freely emitting the clicking sound bugling nearly constantly and often horns may be heard crashing together cows and calves calling for each other a perfect confusion of sounds while the herd is moving When a stop is made quietAbout all soon becomes quiet About October 20 the bulls begin to leave the herds and go toward the winter range at a lower level where the snowfall is not so heavy Here in small bauds they paw away the snow to get the rich suncured grass Early winter finds them in a weakened condition The extreme cold and scanty food supply is apt to prove fatal to some of them At best spring finds them in an emaciated condition They shed their horns the latter part of March or early April This is a period of more or less suffering on their part and still further reduces them In strength and spirit But now the warm sun lias begun to take away the snow from the south slopes and the grass makes a quick start The bull elk quickly find these places and their recuperation begins beginsDuring During a severe winter many bulls come down on the fied grounds with the cows and calves giving an unusually favorable opportunity to study their moods and actions These during most of the winter mingle with the herds and show but occasional out ¬ bursts of temper so there are but few fights But as the period of shedding their horns draws near if conditions arc such that fecdiug is still fnntinufd they become more quarrelsome and many fights take place placeWhile While a month before the elk were docile and quiet now they are particularly fretful and quarrel ¬ some Those that have shed their horns seem hardly aware of the fact and will fight at the least provocation Once we saw a horn get knocked off in a fight It went flying ten feet in the air while the bull went sidling off holding his head like a man docs when he has had a tooth pulled Shedding the horns seem painful to them yet they court tlie opportunity of having them knocked off and often when one horn lias fallen off they will catch tlie other in the brush or hook it in the ground and pull it off The place bleeds a little and seems sore The new horn begins its growth immediately and in a few days looks much like a pincushion The substance of the horn seems attout the same as that eaten at the licks by the elk They sometimes gnaw and eat the shed horns and the porcupines always seeking salt will eat them entirely up upAll All elk have two teeth of ivory that grow in the upper jaw in front of the grinders They appear in the calves mouths at about six months of age and grow quite rapidly being nearly full size when the animal is eighteen months of age but then are hollow and somewhat pointed They gradually fill up till when three years of age they are solid and then somewhat worn off At five or six years of age they are much worn down and at ten years of age they are nearly worn away showing they use them extensively but for what purpose seems unknown unknownIn In approaching a sixmonthold calf when for want of sufficient food it becomes too weak to cs eaix by running it stops slowly backward with head held high and gritting its teeth as you approach Wh u you are close up they rear up and strike viciously with their fore foot In later life when angry tin gritting of tin grinders gives way to a peculiar rlickinx sound resembling the snapping of a persons fingers only much faster To emit this sound the mouth is held partly oHn to expose the tusks to view and the jaws are worked workedIpon Ipon the range and on the feed yards there seem to be many more females than males yet at birth the sexs se m to be about equally divided This is accounted for by tho fact that during early life the females seem to have more spirit and vitality than the males Thus during a hard winter there are apt to be more males than females per ¬ ish and during the second winter of their exist ¬ ent they shed the two middle teeth on their lower jaw in front With no teeth in front on the upper jaw they are seriously handicapped and at this time many of the young males perish S N Leek in Outdoor Life
