Elk (Red Deer)
Cervus elaphus
Summary 4
The red deer (Cervus elaphus) or Elk is one of the largest species of deer. They range in weight from 150 to 1090 lbs and stand at 0.75 to 1.5 m high at the shoulder. They range in color from dark brown to tan depending on the season. Head, neck, belly and legs are darker in coloring (Photo 1). They are found throughout the Northern hemisphere including Iron County, UT. Hooves are rounded with four toes, toes 2 & 5 are dewclaws so generally only toes 3 & 4 will show in tracks. Front tracks will be between 7.6 to 12.4 cm long and 6.7 to 11.7 inches wide. Rear hooves will be 6.4 to 11.4 cm long and 6 to 10.2 cm wide (Photo 2). Elk scat are small oblong pellets with a diameter of 1.1 to 1.7 cm and a length of 1.3 to 2.5 cm (Photo 3).
Sources and Credits
- (c) 2000 California Academy of Sciences, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?seq_num=24734&one=T
- (c) chey295, all rights reserved
- (c) Timo Newton-Syms, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/timo_w2s/3948888316/
- Adapted by chey295 from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cervus_elaphus
