Description - The Elk is the second largest member of the deer family with slender legs, a thick neck and is coloured brown or tan with darker underparts. The antlers, only grown by males, are large with many tines, the main beam up to 150 cm long.

Distribution - The Elk occurs in high, open mountain pastures in summer and lower, wooded slopes or dense woods in the winter. They are most abundant along the western side of the rockies but they also can be found near Golden, Bush River, Forest Lake, Lucerne area, Seebach Creek, Pear River area, and Tuchodi Lake area.

Biology - This nocturnal creature is primarily a grazer feeding on woody vegetation and lichen. Once the velvet of his antlers has been discarded, the bull begins assembling his harem of up to 60 cows. The gestation period is 255-275 days. The Elk's main predator is the mountain lion and sometimes bears get the young.

Tracks - The track of an elk is larger and rounder than that of a deer and somewhat rounder and smaller than that of a moose. Look for blackened, rough bark on aspen trees to distinguish the elks habitat.

Straddle: 20 cm (8 in)
Stride: 65 - 70 cm (26 - 28 in)
Track: 10 cm (4 in) long / 7.5 cm (3 in) wide

Description- This horse-sized animal is the largest member of the deer family with long, dark brown hair, high, humped shoulders and long legs. A pendant of hair-covered skin sometimes reaching 2 feet hangs under the throat. Each April the male moose or bull grows a set of antlers reaching 120-150 cm which he loses in the winter after rutting season.

Distribution - The moose occurs in spruce forests, swamps, aspen and willow thickets; it is built to live in rough country and is well adapted to a cold climate. It can be found throughout most of B.C.

Biology - The rut lasts from early September to late October and 8 months later 1-2 calves are born. Moose are unpredictable and sometimes dangerous; although they generally avoid human contact, cows with calves and rutting bulls have been known to charge people, cars, horses and locomotives.

Tracks - The moose track is slightly larger and more pointed than that of the elk and similar in shape to a deer's but twice as large. The track may be blunted if the ground is rocky and hard, making it more difficult to distinguish from the elks. A typical print is of two pointed pear shapes with the tips closer than the wider bottom.

Straddle: 23 - 26 cm (9.2 - 10.4 in)
Stride: 60 - 85 cm (24 - 34 in)
Track: 16 cm (6.4 in) / 14 cm (5.6 in)