IN THE LAND OF THE GREAT SPIRIT 



137 



my possession, which I believe to be the skin of a 

 fawn of this species (the Indian from whom I 

 obtained it assured me it was), may be thus described : 

 Sides and shoulders the dark sable-brown of the 

 British water-vole. A stripe three inches broad of 

 lighter sable down the back, widening over the 

 quarters and fading to chestnut towards the hocks. 

 From the neck to the lumbar region down the centre 

 of the back a dark mule-mark. This skin measures 

 from the origin of the neck to the end of the scut 

 twenty-six inches, and is thirteen inches wide across 

 the flanks. 



The palmated horns of the moose are too well 

 known to need description. They are shed about 

 mid- winter. The coat is shed twice — viz., in May and 

 September. The rutting season, which begins in 

 September, is at its height by October, and the calves 

 are dropped in May. 



Unlike the wapiti, or our red-deer, the moose is 

 monogamous, although the bull seems to pair with a 

 different cow each season. Each family holds to- 

 gether through the year, so that a big bull is not 

 often found alone, unless his powers are going back. 



The moose, because of his long fore-legs, can only 

 eat grass with great difficulty. Personally I have 



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