THE MOOSE OR ELK. 343 



THE MOOSE OR ELK. 



(Alces-machlis) 



The distinction between the Moose and the Elk is one of 

 locality and not of species. The Elk of the Old World and 

 the Moose of the New are so similar in formation, nature, 

 distinguishing characteristics and habits, that in considering 

 one we get a perfect description of the other. Long before 

 the Moose was discovered in America, the Elk was hunted 

 in every part of the British Islands, the continent of Eur- 

 ope and Northern Asia; but it is rapidly diminishing in 

 numbers, although it is still found in Norway and Sweden, 

 Eastern Prussia, and in parts of Russia and Siberia. 



The Moose is valued by the hunters and trappers prin- 

 cipally for its flesh and horns, as its hide is inferior to that 

 of other wild animals. It is the largest living representa- 

 tive of the Deer family, and is characterized by the length 

 of its limbs, its short neck, long flapping ears, and the 

 length and narrowness of its head, the ungainly aspect of 

 which is greatly increased by the large nostrils, and the 

 large hairy overhanging muzzle. The front legs are con- 

 siderably longer than the hind ones, and as the Moose stands 

 six feet from the ground at the shoulder it cannot, owing 

 to its short neck, feed from the ground, but subsists on 

 shrubs, and the leaves and tender branches of the trees. 



In his description of the Moose, Richard Lydecker says : 

 "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 mid- 

 dle line of the forehead and on the same plane as its surf- 

 ace. Their basal position consists of a short cylindrical 

 beam without any tine, and beyond this beam they 

 expand into an enormous basin-like palmation containing 

 snags on the outer edge. The antlers of a fine specimen 

 may weigh as much as sixty pounds, and have a span of 

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

 one inches, and a ridge across the same of forty-eight 

 inches." The antlers of the male do not attain their full 

 dimensions until the ninth year. The female and the 



