Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

help keep enemies away. If a walkingstick

loses legs or antennas to an enemy,

it can grow new ones.

Female walkingsticks scatter their eggs

on the ground. The eggs of some walkingsticks

look like seeds. This helps keep

the eggs from being discovered. The eggs

hatch within several months. A walkingstick

usually lives for less than a year.

#More to explore

Insect • Protective Coloration

Walrus

The walrus is a large mammal that lives

in cold Arctic seas of Europe, Asia, and

North America. It is closely related to

the seals. The walrus can be told apart

from seals by the two large upper teeth,

called tusks, that stick down from its

mouth. The scientific name of the walrus

is Odobenus rosmarus.

The walrus has a stocky body and a

rounded head. It has flippers instead of

legs. Its mouth is covered with stiff whiskers.

The skin is wrinkled and grayish

brown. A thick layer of fat below the

skin, called blubber, keeps the walrus

warm.Walruses can be 12 feet (3.7

meters) long and weigh more than

2,600 pounds (1,200 kilograms).

The walrus has a tusk on each side of its

mouth. The tusks can be 3 feet (1

meter) long. The walrus uses its tusks to

fight. It also uses them to cut holes in ice

and to pull itself out of water.

Walruses live in groups that can include

more than 100 animals. They spend

most of their time in the sea. They

sometimes rest on ice or rocky islands.

In the water a walrus uses its flippers to

swim. On land it turns its rear flippers

forward under its body to waddle

around.

Walruses eat mostly clams. They dig

clams from the seafloor with their tusks.

They shovel food into the mouth with

their whiskers.

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Mammal • Seal

Wampanoag

TheWampanoag are a Native American

people of New England. They traditionally

lived in villages in Massachusetts,

Walruses often live in large groups. Rhode Island, and on nearby islands.

6 Walrus BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

TheWampanoag built dome-shaped

houses called wigwams. Several families

lived in each wigwam. TheWampanoag

hunted and fished. They also grew corn,

beans, and squash.

TheWampanoag were the first Native

Americans to deal with the English settlers

known as the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims

established a colony at Plymouth,

Massachusetts, in 1620. Massasoit, the

Wampanoag chief, made a peace treaty

with the Pilgrims that lasted for 40

years. TheWampanoag taught the Pilgrims

the skills they needed to survive in

their new home.

Massasoit died in 1661. By that time the

relationship between theWampanoag

and the settlers had become tense. Some

settlers were takingWampanoag lands

without payment. Massasoit’s son

Metacom—known to the Pilgrims as

King Philip—became chief in 1662. He

got other tribes to help theWampanoag

fight the settlers in what became known

as King Philip’sWar. Metacom was

killed, and theWampanoag were

defeated.

TheWampanoag survivors fled their

lands. Some traveled to the islands of

Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. At

the end of the 20th century there were

about 2,000Wampanoag, mostly on

Martha’s Vineyard.

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King Philip’sWar • Massasoit

• Metacom • Native Americans

• Plymouth Colony

Wapiti

The wapiti is a North American deer

that is often called American elk. Scientists

sometimes consider wapiti to be of

the same species, or type, as the red deer

of Eurasia. The wapiti is the second largest

deer after the moose. Its scientific

name is Cervus canadensis.

An engraving shows a

Wampanoag man dressed for

battle.

A male wapiti blends in with the dry grass

of a meadow in Yellowstone National Park

in the U.S. state of Wyoming.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Wapiti 7

 

At one time wapiti roamed over most of

North America. They are now only in

the northwestern United States and

southwestern Canada.Wapiti like open

woodlands and mountain meadows.

Wapiti weigh about 650 to 1,100

pounds (295 to 500 kilograms). Males

may stand taller than 5 feet (1.5 meter)

at the shoulder.Wapiti have brown fur

with a yellowish white patch on the

rump. The shoulders and neck are covered

with long, shaggy, dark brown hair.

Males have large antlers that are shed

and regrown each year.

Wapiti eat a variety of grasses and plants.

They generally look for food in the early

morning and late evening. In the winter

they stay in large groups, but in the

summer they break up into smaller ones.

In early summer the females give birth

to one white-spotted calf.

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Deer • Moose

Wappinger

TheWappinger were a group of seven

Native American tribes. They lived in

what are now New York State and Connecticut.

TheWappinger lived in bark-covered

homes called wigwams. They also lived

in longhouses. Longhouses were large

enough for several related families. They

grew corn and other crops. They also

hunted and fished.

Italian explorers visitedWappinger territory

in 1524. In 1609 an English

explorer named Henry Hudson arrived.

He was working for the Dutch. Hudson

claimed the tribe’s land for the Netherlands.

TheWappinger gladly traded animal

furs to the Dutch for European goods

such as metal pots and tools. But the

Wappinger also caught diseases such as

smallpox and measles from the Dutch.