Moose 



159 



tion. Freak horns are common among Moose, and some of the 

 most curious are illustrated on page 156, all on the same scale. 



The antlers' size and shape have even less relation to the 

 age of the animal than with the Wapiti. After the third year 

 no one can tell the age from the antlers. 



The young bull Moose grows his first pair — two snags 

 a few inches long — in his sec- 

 ond summer, shedding them 

 the following spring. Next 

 year he grows his prongs, 

 shedding them late the fol- 

 lowing winter or in spring. 

 The third pair have a begin- 

 ning of palmation. Thence- 

 forth each pair is more pal- 

 mated and is dropped earlier 

 — usually in January or 

 February; but bulls of excep- 

 tional vigour drop their ant- 

 lers as early as December. 

 As with most male Deer, the 

 full development of the horns 

 is attained about the seventh 

 or eighth year; then comes a 

 period of little change, fol- 

 lowed after three or four 

 years by a decline. 



After the Moose has 

 grown old or passed his vig- 

 our "the palmation becomes 

 wider, but the points fewer in number and shorter, until, in a 

 very old specimen, the upper part of the antler is merely scal- 

 loped along the edge and the web is of great breadth. In the 

 older and finer specimens the brow antlers are more complex 

 and show three points instead of two." {Madison Grant. Y^ 



^* Moose, N. Y., F. F. & G. Com., 7th Ann. Rep., 1903, pp. 231-2. 



Fig. 67 — Moose antlers, showing successive growths. 



I. Appearance on the calf under a year old. 2. At .eighteen 



months. 3. At two and one-half years. 4. At three and 



one-half years. 

 After this the br<iw points increase to two or three in number on 



each side ; the webs or palms grow wider and the points 



more numerous for five or six years. 

 These drawings were made from specimens whose age was not 



positively ascertained, and are olTercd with much hesitancy. 



