e reach of winter starvation.

In addition to the wild herds, there are a considerable number of elk in
private game preserves and parks, as well as in nearly all the public
zoological parks and gardens of this country. The herds in captivity
form the nucleus from which, under wise management, some of the former
ranges of this animal may be restocked and from which a profitable
business of growing elk venison for market may be developed. At the
present time this species affords a most promising field for ventures in
breeding for profit.

_Habits of Elk._

The elk is both a browsing and a grazing animal. While it eats grasses
freely and has been known to subsist entirely upon pasture, it seems to
prefer a mixture of grass and browse.

The elk is extremely polygamous. The adult bulls shed their antlers
annually in March or April, and new ones attain their full size in about
ninety days. The "velvet" adheres until about August. While the horns
are growing the bulls usually lead solitary lives; but early in
September, when the horns are fully matured, the rutting season begins.
Fights for supremacy then take place, and the victor takes charge of as
many cows as he can round up and control. The period of gestation is
about 8-1/2 months. The female does not usually breed until the third
year, and produces but one calf at a time.

Although the elk is less prolific than the common deer and some other
species that have been bred in parks, it increases fully as rapidly as
the common red deer of Europe. Moreover, it makes up for any lack of
fecundity by its superior hardiness and ease of management. It has been
acclimatized in many parts of the world, and shows the same vigor and
hardiness wherever it has been transplanted. In Europe it has been
successfully crossed with Altai wapiti and the red deer, and in both
instances the offspring were superior in size and general stamina to the
native stock.

_Elk Venison._

The flesh of the elk, although somewhat coarse, is superior in flavor to
most venison. That of the bulls is in its best condition about the time
the velvet is shed. By the time the rut is over, in October, their flesh
is in the poorest condition. As the open season for elk is usually in
October and November, and only bulls are killed, it follows that
hunters often obtain the venison when it is poorest. The meat is not
best when freshly killed, but should be left hanging for four or five
days before it is us