THE IRISH ELK 



it is quite the largest existing deer. The bull alone has 

 horns, as is the case with most deer, the reindeer, a 

 near neighbour of the elk, being the most salient excep- 

 tion. It is usual to term the American elk the " moose," 

 and to reserve the name " elk " for the European 

 beast. But in truth the elk is, like so many northern 

 animals, e.g. the brown bear, circumpolar in range. 

 Like many creatures now limited to the north, the elk 

 had in past times a wider range, and remains of it have 

 been found even in the prolific gravels of the Thames 

 valley. But the elk was never historically an inhabitant 

 of these islands ; and it must of course not be confounded 

 with the " Irish elk,", which is a more typical deer in 

 its characters. The elk has particularly large horns 

 which are " palmated " as the expression goes; that 

 is to say, each horn swells out soon after its origin from 

 the head into a flat expansion, from which arise the 

 comparatively small tines. Of these tines there may 

 be as many as sixteen, but as a rule there are fewer. 

 The fact that these horns are at times non-palmated, 

 like those of the red deer, for example, has led to the 

 creation of various species for those individuals ; but it 

 seems probable that the deficient growth of the horn 

 is rather a matter of nutrition than of species distinc- 

 tion. The Canadian moose has an ingenious method 

 of protecting itself against wolves in the winter. It 

 tramples down a definite area, which is known as a 

 " moose yard," and securely entrenched in this it is 

 able to defy its foes by bringing into play its heavy 

 and sharp pointed horns. It is plain that a moose 

 travelling through a dense thicket would be incommoded 

 like the stag in the fable, and unable to deal efficiently 

 with carnivorous foes. The European and Siberian 

 elk may have less difficulties, and after all it seems to 

 live much more in the open. The most un-deerlike 

 point about the elk is its projecting and fleshy nose, 



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