### animal | vertebrate | mammal | ungulate | deer:

Elk
* Many elk spend the summer where they find green grasses, cool breezes and shady resting areas.
* Most elk adapt to habitats
  - appear in forests
* Most elk are classified as animals
  - distinguished by legs
  - known as bulls
  - cross rivers
  - depend on vegetation
* Most elk die of causes
  - natural causes
  - drink water
* Most elk eat food
  - leaves
  - grow antlers
* Most elk has-part legs
  - shoulders
* Most elk have antlers
  - bones
  - incisors
  - massive muscles
  - perceptions
  - senses
  - sharp incisors
  - teeth
  - unique characteristics
  - wide ranges
* Most elk live in areas
  - transition zones
  - make antlers
  - move antlers
  - occupy small areas
  - occur in mountains
* Most elk possess sex
  - vertebrae
* Most elk prefer flat grassland
  - relate to elk
* Most elk require diets
  - retain antlers
  - seek forests
* Most elk stand in environments
  - fields
  - on legs
* Most elk use antlers
  - large antlers
  - wear antlers
  - weigh pounds
* Some elk adapt to humans
  - are inside valleys
* Some elk are located in hills
  - on roads
  - carry babies
* Some elk come from forests
  - destroy vegetation
* Some elk eat clover
  - flowers
  - hay
  - mushrooms
* Some elk feed in lakes
  - streams
  - get sick and die
* Some elk have fevers
  - markets
  - religious connotations
  - water sources
* Some elk live in Alaska
  - Pennsylvania
  - Wyoming
  - countries
  - parks
  - play in rivers
* Some elk possess alleles
  - hierarchies
  - prefer forests
  - relate to caribou
* Some elk rely on cows
  - mature cows
  - shed antlers
* Some elk stand in habitats
  - pools
  - thrive in forests
* abound in Finland and reindeer in Lappland.
* also displace less tolerant species like mule deer and bighorn sheep
  - have the disease
  - make good eating
  - roll in mud wallows to loosen their dead winter coats and help dislodge annoying parasites
  - strip bark from larger trees, which gives pathogens a way in
  - use body language
* are a herding species but the extent of herding can vary by sex and time of year
  - member of the deer family
  - native species
  - vital part of a growing regional economy, both for wildlife watching and hunting
  - able to take long, graceful strides
  - about two to three times the size of their smaller cousins, the deer
  - active at dusk and dawn and are frequently seen feeding in prairies during the day
* are also dangerous during the fall mating season and many visitors are injured each year
  - subject to hunting when they leave the park
  - among the animals that conservationists are trying to protect with closure boundaries
  - an important game animal to both hunters and ranchers
* are big animals, with long legs, that can cover a lot of real estate in a short period of time
  - game animals which bring significant revenue to the rural Montana economy
  - both grazers and browsers
  - browsers and deer are roamers
  - dangerous, especially during the spring calving season and the fall rutting season
  - efficient converters of food
  - even safer when they are resting and ruminating
  - far from becoming endangered
  - found in woodlands, mountain meadows, foothills, plains, swamps, and coniferous forests
* are generally subject to limited, legal sport hunting
  - tan in color, with dark brown over the head, neck and legs
* are gregarious animals that prefer to live in groups
  - animals, and displays of dominance are common within the herd
  - gregarious, with each sex forming separate herds for most of the year
  - hardier - elk have a natural immunity to most diseases
* are hardy animals that have few physiological needs for cover
  - livestock with natural immunity to most diseases
  - harem breeders and evidence shows that the females actually choose the male
* are herbivores, meaning they feed on plant material
  - which means they eat only plants
* are highly social animals and travel in various herd sizes throughout the year
  - in the horse pasture almost every morning during winter
  - inactive in hot weather
* are known as bulls
  - for their huge antlers
  - large animals
  - larger than deer
  - members of the deer family and share many physical traits with deer, moose, and caribou
* are more seasonal appearing in the spring and late fall
  - than three times the size of deer
* are most active early and late in the day
  - in the dusk and the dark
  - common in open areas near timber stands, where they graze on grasses and shrubs
* are much larger than white tail deer
  - white-tailed deer
  - natural carriers of the disease brucellosis
  - noisy animals by wildlife standards
  - one of the largest members of the deer family
  - organized around a matriarchal society
  - painted on rocks throughout archaeological sites in the western United States
  - polygamous and bulls begin to gather a harem of cows in early autumn
* are predominantly grazers and are efficient converters of nutrients
  - primarily grazers, eating a variety of grasses and forbes
  - related to deer but are much larger than most of their relatives
  - ruminant animals and therefore regurgitate their food and remasticate to aid in digestion
  - ruminants
* are social animals and live in herds
  - animals, living in herds for much of the year
  - still much closer to nature
  - susceptible to most of the diseases that trouble cattle, but less so
* are the most abundant large mammals found in Yellowstone
  - common of the large animals in the park
* are the most vocal and polygamous of the deer family
  - species of North American deer
  - noisiest member of the deer family in North America
  - park's most common ungulate
  - primary prey species for wolves
* are the second largest deer in the park next to moose
  - on the continent, only the moose is larger
  - usually at higher elevations during summer months
  - very vocal animals
  - wild animals
* are, by their very nature, a difficult animal to hunt.
* begin moving to lower elevations.
* behave in similar ways wherever they live, but the details vary with specific habitat.
* can also be nocturnal.
* can be a very dangerous animals
  - easier to locate because of snow cover and fallen vegetation
  - hosts to a variety of diseases just like cattle or deer
  - pale gray, tan, or brown
  - give birth to twins just like humans can
  - live in many habitats, from rugged mountains to desert valleys to hardwood forests
* change behavior.
* compete for food in the deer's traditional areas.
* consume grain
  - the young shoots and grasshoppers defoliate it in drought years
* cross environments
* defend territory.
* depend more on forbs and woodier plants, like bushes and shrubs.
* depend on the forest for cover, especially in winter
* die from hunting, predation, starvation, disease and harsh winters.
* do move long distances for many reasons.
* eat a variety of foods depending on the season
  - all kinds of plants
  - as they migrate, and often reach the grass in the spring before the cattle do
  - aspens, cottonwoods, and willows
  - grass and shrubs and tree bark and leaves
  - grass, shoots, twigs, leaves, flowers and fruit
  - grasses, weeds, wildflowers, clover and mushrooms
  - new growth on shrubs, woody vegetation, grasses and other herbaceous plants
  - the tips of the leaves
* exhibit a range of sounds to warn of predators and communicate with one another.
* farming in the U.S. is in an early growth stage.
* feed on all kinds of plants, but are primarily grazers of grasses
  - grasses, herbs, twigs, and bark
  - predominantly on grasses, but also use forbs, browse, and bark
* gather in herds.
* generally avoid roads, lessening their chance of being involved in accidents with vehicles.
* graze in fields.
* has-part heads
* have a dark head, neck and legs, with a lighter brown body and cream- colored rump.
* have a large range and move according to seasonal food availability
  - variety of vocalization for communicating with each other
  - molar on each side of their upper jaw about half way back behind the front teeth
  - more deer-like, slender snout
  - red-brown body, chestnut brown neck, pale yellow rump and slender snout
  - reduced blood supply to their legs which keeps their core body temperature higher
  - seasonal life cycle
  - summer and a winter coat
  - distinct summer and winter coats, which they shed in late summer and spring, respectively
  - four-chambered stomachs and chew their cud
  - grayish brown coats, with a white patch on the rump
  - keen senses
  - long, blackish hair on the neck that is referred to as a mane
  - only two coats one for summer and one for winter
  - other tricks for staying warm in winter
* have sharp incisors for biting off plants and broad and flat molars for mashing plants
  - slender legs and a thick neck
  - specific tactics they use for protection
  - spread antlers
  - chests
  - second stomachs
* inhabit the relatively flat meadows in the summer and fall
  - woods of Eurasia and North America
* interact with their surroundings in a manner that constantly changes.
* is an implementation of the Scheme programming language
  - smaller and quieter than Detroit
  - the maker and keeper of the sacred fire
* is very dark and coarsely grained
  - tender and low in fat
* keep to the wet forests and deer and boars are numerous.
* large species of deer.
* leave the shade of the forest at dusk to eat grasses growing among the sagebrush.
* live in a wide variety of forests and grasslands
  - forested areas, mountain meadows, foothills and canyons
  - large herds, but a lone elk can often be seen
  - the high mountain meadows and clearings throughout Montana
  - mainly on grass, leaves, bark and other plants
  - successfully in a variety of neighborhoods
* lose their antlers each spring naturally, which are collected and sold as a commodity.
* meat that can range from assertively gamy to pleasantly full-bodied.
* need water.
* never remove their coats.
* occasionally graze in the open aspen groves to the east.
* occupy areas
* often have to share their habitat with cattle.
* possess blood
  - chromosomes
  - open woodlands and avoid dense unbroken forests
  - to graze on rich brush and grasses that follow disturbances such as fire and logging
* primary food source for the pack.
* provide a much broader range of market opportunities than most other common livestock.
* provides a summary of the biology and ecology of elk.
* raise heads.
* range from the eastern foothills to the western border of Colorado.
* red meat low in fat content and similar to boneless chicken.
* replace all of their hair twice a yearonce in the spring and once in the fall.
  - large amounts of food because of their body size and herding tendencies
  - their antlers for more than six months of the year
* roam areas
  - terrains
* see colors.
* select places.
* serve as a predominant food source for many other large mammals in the area.
* shake antlers.
* share districts
* shed horns.
* sometimes coexist with development in surprising locations.
* spend their summers at high elevations, and move to lower more sheltered areas in the winter
  - in the mountains where food is abundant and the temperature is cool
* survive gunshot wounds, seals heal after shark bites, oak trees resprout after decapitation.
* tend to avoid roads in all seasons.
* tends to be thicker but deer can actually be stronger.
* then polish their antlers on trees and shrubs to remove the velvet.
* to graze on grass.
* tolerate extreme temperatures better than deer.
  - the area heavily in the winter for feeding
* utilize all types of cover, from open fields to heavily timbered mountains.