A Capricious Beast 



You are a pair of strange ones. 



—COBIOLANUS. 



The moose is a strange animal in many respects. 

 In his outside make-up this strangeness is strongly 

 marked by his large, truncated antlers, his " bell " — a 

 tuft of nerves, muscles and hair, hanging from his 

 neck — his great mane, his high shoulders, his retreat- 

 ing hips and his stumpy bit of a tail. His " inside," 

 or, so to speak, his mental make-up is quite as strange. 

 He is full of suspicion, ever on the alert for danger, 

 and governed by a disposition stuffed with caprice. 

 What you most expect him to do, when you are after 

 him, he is apt not to do at aU ; and what your experi- 

 ence tells you he will never do, he often astonishes 

 you by doing in the most provoking manner. He is 

 an enormous eater, a great traveller, and something 

 of a Lothario in his relish for courtship. He usually 

 feeds in the early morning, rests during the day, 

 and does all his travelling and courting at night; 

 although the whim sometimes seizes him to venture 

 a visit to his sweetheart in the daytime; but it is 

 a perilous venture and one which he often has cause 



to regret. 



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