Mellea farm provides goats . . . and the shepherds to protect them

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Wapiti (Cervus canadensis). Coastal rain forest. Our Wapiti is a deer named by European settlers as "Elk", which commonly refers to Moose (Alces alces) in Europe. This error was made because Wapiti are much larger than their close European relative, the Red Deer (Cervus elaphus) and the early settlers saw them more as the much larger Moose than the smaller Red Deer. The two deer were merged into a single species (Cervus elaphus), but with different subspecies defined by distribution, until detailed morphological, behavioral and DNA evidence indicated the European and American populations had likely diverged significantly from a common ancestor and the American subspecies were elevated to species status (Cervus canadensis). The common name remains as "Roosevelt Elk" or "Olympic Elk" despite the original belief that it was a Moose (Elk) because of its size and its misidentification as "Elk". Since it is an American species, I prefer Wapiti, derived from the Shawnee name "waapiti" which refers to the white rump of both male and female Wapiti . . . and because as a child I learned their name as Wapiti.

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