Elk (Cervus elaphus)
Description: A hooved animal related to deer. Cream-coloured to light brown coat with a darker brown head and neck and a buffy-coloured rump patch ringed with dark brown. Males have a dark brown mane along the head and neck and large antlers. Males can weigh from 600 to over 1000 pounds.
Habitat: Summer in high alpine meadows, coming to the forest’s edge in winter.
Feeding: Forbs, grasses, cambium and fibrous browse.
General: Rutting season runs from September to November. Males begin to drop their antlers in February, regrowing them again in April or May.
References: Rezendes, Paul. 1992. Tracking & the Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks & Sign. Camden House Publishing Inc. Charlotte, Vermont.
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