THE ELK OR MOOSE 



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(Alces machlis). This fine animal differs from all other deer in the form and 

 setting-on of the antlers of the male; and it is not improable that these appendages 

 have really no connection with those of the true deer, but were independently acquired. 



In build the elk is characterized by the length of its limbs, its short neck, very 

 long and flapping ears, and the great length and narrowness of the head, w r hich 

 terminates in a broad overhanging muzzle, completely covered with short fine hair, 

 save for a small triangular spot just below the nostrils. The extremity of the muz- 

 zle is flexible, and the eyes are small and sunken. The antlers, instead of emerging 

 from the forehead at an acute angle with its middle line and inclining forward, as is 

 the case with all living representatives of the genus Cervus, project on either side at 

 right angles to the middle line of the forehead, and in the same plane as its surface. 

 Their basal portion consists of a short, cylindrical beam, without any tine, and be- 

 yond this beam they expand into an enormous basin-like palmation. In young 

 animals, and more especially in the Swedish elk, the antlers have their palmated 

 portion divided into a smaller anterior and a larger posterior moiety; but in the 

 adult of the American form these two coalesce into a single palmation, elongated 

 from back to front, and containing a number of short and irregular snags 

 on its outer edge. The antlers of fine specimens may weigh as much as sixty 

 pounds; and in a head in the possession of Mr. Otho Shaw the antlers have a span 

 of sixty-five inches, a length along the palmation of forty-one inches, and a width 

 across the same of twenty-four inches, but a span of sixty- 

 six inches is on record. The antlers do not attain their 

 full dimensions till the animal has attained its ninth year. 



The skull of the elk differs from that of other deer in 

 the extreme shortness of the nasal bones, and the conse- 

 quently very large size of the cavity of the nose: The 

 upper molar teeth have very low and broad crowns. The 

 tail is so short that it is scarcely more than a rudiment. 



The elk carries its short neck nearly horizontally, and 

 therefore somewhat lower than the elevated withers; and it 

 is this feature which so largely contributes to the ungainly 

 and ugly appearance of the animal. The feet have long 

 and sharply-pointed hoofs, very different in appearance from 

 those of the reindeer; and the lateral hoofs are relatively 

 large and loosely attached. In the male the hair is long, 

 coarse, and somewhat brittle, and is elongated into a 

 slight mane on the neck, shoulders, and throat; while in 

 color it varies from very dark brown to yellowish gray. 

 The female is lighter colored than the male during the 

 winter season. In both sexes the hair is softer and finer 



in the summer than in the winter; and during the latter season an abundant supply 

 of woolly under-fur is developed. Young animals have also brighter-colored and 

 sleeker coats than aged individuals; and in the latter the fading of the winter 

 coat with the advance of spring is much more noticeable than in the former. 

 The fawns are uniformly colored like the adults. 



UNDER SURFACE OF FOOT 

 OF ELK. 



