The American Elk or Wapiti

Elk crossing rock face by Brocken Inaglory

       The common names of some animals, like the nick-names of people, are not always the same as the real ones. This is true of the American elk, the real name of which is wapiti. According to an old native language wapiti means a certain kind of deer. White settlers in America, mistaking the animals for European elk, gave them the wrong name; and they have been known as elk ever since.

       A full-grown bull wapiti has slender rounded and branched antlers. The summer coat of all wapiti is reddish-brown, with a large light colored patch of hair around the short tail. The winter coat is grey, mixed with white hair. The reddish-brown coat of the baby wapiti or fawn is spotted with patches of white hair. The wapiti is closely related to the European red deer but is much larger and stronger.

       Many dangers are in store for every young wapiti and few of them live to develop great seven-branched antlers and become leaders of the herds. Usually the fawn is born in May or June; and is hidden by its mother among the bushes or fallen logs until its slender legs are strong enough to hold it steadily. When the baby lies very still it can seldom be seen even by a hungry wolf, for its spotted coat seems to be only patches of sunlight on the ground. Very young wapiti do not have the odor peculiar to older ones; and this is an additional protection.

       When the fawn is able to run, its mother returns with it to the herd; and cows and calves seek grass, herbs and leaves high up on the mountain sides. An antlered bull wapiti joins the herd late in the summer; and in the early autumn there is often a fight between rival bulls for the possession of the herd. With the approach of winter the wapiti sheds its reddish-brown hair and grows a heavy coat of whitish-grey. At this time the baby loses its spots and begins to resemble its mother. Heavy snows and cold weather finally drive the herds down into the valleys. An old cow wapiti often leads the way; and the herds join in a great crowd, all migrating at once Antlers clash in many a fight until the masses again break up into smaller groups to search for food.

       In the spring the wapiti sheds its winter coat for the reddish-brown one of summer. At this time, if the fawn is a bull, rounded knobs appear on its head, one above each eye; and these soon develop into curved spikes, the beginnings of antlers. The year-old bull fawn also has two well-developed tusks or canine teeth in its upper jaw. It no longer stays with its mother; for she usually is busy caring for another baby.

       In the spring of its second year the young wapiti sheds the small curved spikes and develops antlers with four points. All summer, while the antlers are growing, they are protected by a soft hairy covering called "the velvet." In the autumn the wapiti rubs its head against bushes to scrape off the old velvet and to polish the sharp bone antlers. The two-year-old bull is not permitted to join the herd but is forced to wander with other young bulls until it is old enough to claim leadership.

       The three-year-old wapiti bull sheds the four-pointed antlers and grows heavier five- pointed ones; and the next year there are six points on the new antlers. In the fall of its fourth year the wapiti is full-grown. There are often several battles between the great antlered animals before one of them gains complete control of the cows and calves in the herd. Some of the largest and strongest wapiti carry heavy seven-pointed antlers. With such weapons, these animals have nothing to fear from any other wapiti.

       All of these wild creatures fear the sound of a gun; for they have learned by experience the dangers of the hunting season. Before white men came, there were numerous herds of wapiti in America, from New England to California and from Canada to the Carolinas. The natives hunted them and used the skins for clothing and the meat for food. They used the teeth in place of beads or shells to decorate garments. 

       Although the natives killed many wapiti every year, there were still plenty of these game animals in the country until the white men began to hunt them also. Then the wapiti were forced to seek new homes or die. To the danger of being killed was soon added the danger of starvation, as town and farm took away old feeding grounds. Today no wild herds of wapiti are to be found in the United States east of the Mississippi River; and there are only a few herds remaining in the west. These are protected by game laws and allowed to forage for food in the national parks, such as the Yellowstone. Fisher.

• Why we call elk wapiti and why you might want to as well
• Elk or Wapiti: What's In A Name?
• Wapiti means "Elk"

Red deer vs European bison in Europe by Film Studio Aves.