How do they decide the winner….
I was rather surprised that this battle was taking place rather slooooowly. The two would lower their heads and carefully interlace their antlers, most certainly pushing back and forth, but not making much in the way of sudden moves. I was told that they tend to be careful, not only because those antlers are quite sharp, but also that they can become hopelessly entangled and then both will die. They can work at these slow battles for a long time, but eventually they will separate and then often stagger around drunkenly for a time, from the skull battering they've taken and from having their heads down so long.
The elk or wapiti is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, in the world, and one of the largest land mammals in North America and Eastern Asia. This animal should not be confused with the still larger moose to which the name "elk" applies in British English and in reference to populations in Eurasia.
Elk range in forest and forest-edge habitat, feeding on grasses, plants, leaves, and bark. Male elk have large antlers which are shed each year. Males also engage in.. more
