146 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



Thus far I have deah only with the Canadian Moose. 

 The Alaskan Moose, of course, overtops it. The largest that 

 I have found recorded by any competent authority was killed 

 and measured^ by Dall de Weese on the Yukon in September, 

 1897, and was 7 feet 8 inches at the withers. 



WEIGHT Not many authentic weights of Moose have been recorded, 



because of the difficulties of getting the scales and the Moose 

 together. For long we had nothing but the hunters' guesses, 

 which, of course, are of the same order as fishermen's. Now, 

 however, we have some trustworthy evidence. 



The only Moose I ever killed gave 500 pounds (Fairbanks 

 scales) of dressed meat, which, according to butchers* reckon- 

 ing, would be a live weight of 900 pounds; as he lay he meas- 

 ured 6 feet 2 inches at the withers, which means about 6 feet 

 alive. He was of medium size. 



S. L. Crosby, of Bangor, Maine, an undoubted authority, 

 says:^ "I have weighed several Moose; the heaviest was 

 1,009 pounds, without blood and entrails, which would surely 

 have weighed 250 to 300 pounds." By actual weight I found 

 that a 562-pound bull Wapiti lost 120 pounds when his blood 

 and entrails were removed, so that Crosby's estimate appears 

 fair, and his big Moose surely weighed nearly 1,300 pounds. 



A large Moose killed near Penadomcook, Maine, by 

 W. I. Miller, September, 1892, dressed 1,123 pounds,^ equal 

 to a live weight of over 1,400 pounds. 



Three forms of Moose are recognized: 



americanus Jard'ine. The Canadian or typical Moose. 

 gigas Miller. The great Alaskan Moose, which 



differs from americanus chiefly in being much 



larger. 

 alces Linnaeus. The Old World Moose or Elk, the 

 smallest and grayest. 



' Ihid., February, 1898, p. 151. " Ihid., January, 1896, p. 89. 



^ Recreation Magazine, March, 1895, P- 249. 



