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Elk(wapiti)
Cervus elaphus
47.9613, -124.372
Field Notes
Description:
SIZE:head and body length, 71/2 -91/2 ft ; tail length, 41/2-8in; shoulder height, 4-5ft.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: large size; huge antlers(males); red-brown fur; pale rump; short tail.
Habitat:
HABITAT: mountain meadows, forested areas, lakeshores; valleys, grassland edges (winter).
Notes:
Wapiti is an Indian word for "white", a reference to the light rump color of this gregarious deer. Though wapiti are less common today than in the past (they formerly roamed even the eastern states),herds are widely distributed in mountain forest and adjacent valleys of the west. In summer wapiti cows (females) and calves (baby's) graze together in groups;bulls (males) form separate herds. In autumn the bulls' loud,resonant bugling announces the rut,or mating season,when they fight (sometimes to death) for possession of a harem. Males and females forage together in winter,then separate for birth of young. The calves have spotted fur,unlike moose and caribou calves.
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