the.com/elk
a bugling forest tank that grows and discards a bone crown every single year
means A large deer species — in North America the wapiti, in Europe the animal Americans call a moose — known for the males' massive branching antlers.
from From Old English 'eolh,' part of a deep Germanic family with cousins in Old High German 'elaho' and Old Norse 'elgr,' all likely tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root for the deer (possibly related to Latin 'alces' and Greek 'alke'). The naming muddle is the real story: European settlers in North America saw a big antlered beast and reused the old word 'elk,' but the European elk is actually what Americans call a moose — so the Native American name 'wapiti' ('white rump') was borrowed to keep the two creatures straight.
- antler speed
- grows up to an inch per day
- the bugle
- scream carries miles across mountain valleys
- big build
- bulls top 700 pounds, run 40 mph
- name mixup
- European elk is actually a moose
- antler dump
- sheds and regrows the whole rack yearly
roosevelt elk — largest elk subspecies, weighs up to 1,200 lbs, native to pacific northwest
tule elk — smallest elk subspecies, fewer than 500 existed in 1900, found in california
rocky mountain elk — most common subspecies across north america, population over 1 million today