101 

 THE DEER OF THE OTTAWA VALLEY. 



W. P. Lett. 



Read 13th March, 1884-. 



The moose {Alee Amerlcanus, Jardiiie, considered by many naturalists 

 to be identical with Alee malchis, Linnaaus, of the old world) or American 

 elk, is the largest of all deer now existing in the world, although mucli 

 inferior in size to tlie ancient Irish elk, which must have been an animal 

 of gigantic proportions, if we are to judge by the size and weight of the 

 ponderous antlers occasionally found in tl.e bogs of Ireland many feet 

 beneath the surface. Some specimens of these great horns have been 

 «xhumed, with a spread of twelve feet, which will give some idea of the 

 macrnitude of the animal which carried them. The American moose, 

 according to the conclusions of all scientific naturalists, is a true elk, 

 identical with the ancient Irish elk, the Scandinavian and the Asiatic elk. 

 A moose of the largest size, when fat, will weigh upwards of fifteen 

 hundred pounds. A bull moose of this description is as tall as the 

 largest horse. The body and neck, for so tall an animal, are short and 

 stout, the neck so much so that the animal cannot touch the ground 

 with his lips, without kneeling. The neck is covered with a thick mass 

 of coarse bristly hair, rising on the crest into a stiflf mane, which, when 

 the animal is irritated, stands on end like the mane of a lion, and im- 

 parts to the infuriated beast a frightful and most formidable aspect. 

 The legs are long and bony, and, although ungainly in appearance, are 

 are as clean cut and compact as the limbs of a racer. The head is 

 enormously large,^ and altogether deficient in the fine points of grace and 

 beauty peculiar to nearly all the other branches of the deer family. The 

 fleshy part of the upper jaw terminates in a long flexible upper lip with 

 prehensile powers, used by the animal for the purpose of catching the 

 twigs and branches on which it feeds. The nostrils are long and wide, 

 and the eyes are somewhat small in proportion to the bulky head. The 

 hoofs are large and shaped like those of the common deer. The colour 

 of the hair in the summer coat is nearly black, particularly about the 

 head, back and belly. At this season the hair is short and glossy. In 

 winter the animal is C3vere:l with loig coarse hair of a brittle nature, 



