FEB., 1912. MAMMALS OF ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN CORY. 79 



A record Head. Alaskan Moose. Collection of Field Museum of Natural History. 



his hand and breaks a little dry twig from an overhanging branch. 

 In an instant right in front, thirty or forty yards away, an immense 

 dark-haired animal rises up from the willows. He gives one look in 

 your direction and that look is his last. Twa-poos has fired, and the 

 moose is either dead in his thicket or within a hundred yards of it." 



The so-called Moose yards, made in the deep snow in winter, are 

 simply irregular spaces and pathways trampled down by the animals 

 while seeking their food or resting in some favorable locality. In the 

 summer season their food consists of leaves and young twigs and buds, 

 and occasionally grass when they are hungry. They frequent ponds 

 and rivers, especially during the mosquito season, and are very fond 

 of aquatic plants, preferably lily pads. 



A full grown bull of this species will stand over 6 feet high at the 

 shoulders and the massive horns will spread from 60 to 65 inches (67 

 has been recorded). One killed by William L. Roberts of Springfield, 

 Massachusetts, measured 6 feet 10 inches in height;* another killed 

 by Carl Rungius in New Brunswick is stated to have measured 7 feet 

 at the withers,! and a very large animal killed by Dr. Hamilton 

 Vreeland near Mattawa, Quebec, is claimed to have stood 7 feet 4 

 inches high at the withers. J 



These animals must be considered unusually large representatives 



* Forest & Stream, Nov., 1899, p. 426. 



t Hornaday, Wm. Amer. Nat. Hist., 1904, p. 140. 



} Recreation Mag., Feb., 1896, p. 65. 



