V 



THE MOOSE 



AS we have already observed, the moose suffers by 

 comparison with the wapiti or elk — only in 

 beauty, however. He is even larger than the elk and 

 will measure, sometimes, over six feet at the withers. 

 A recent specimen from Alaska measured six feet, four 

 and one-half inches. The moose is about the same 

 beast as the Scandinavian elk. If our moose is an 

 elk, the picture of a moose in my little girl's geogra- 

 phy is correctly labelled "Elk"; but our elk must 

 be somethinor so that it is reallv best to talk about 

 going wapiti-shooting in the future, when we go 

 in pursuit of the animals which were formerly elks. 

 The natural history of these moose and elk has always 

 had a charming, labyrinthine quality, equalled by 

 that of no other animal save the white goat. As we 

 shall see later, the natural history of the latter animal is 

 simply delightful to those who love puzzles and variety. 

 Mr. Madison Grant has pointed out some matters relat- 

 ing to the early natural history of the elk-moose or 

 moose-elk, which indicate that the beast had a good 

 start in a literary way. 



" Its upper lip is extremely large, for which reason 

 it is obliged to go backward when grazing; other- 

 wise, by moving onward, the lip would get doubled 



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