EFFECT OF AGE ON ANIMALS 153 



When we had skinned him that Saturday 

 morning and taken off his feet, we found that 

 one measured ii}i inches from toe to heel. 

 Each of the hoofs of the other three feet was 

 broken and cracked at the edges, so that they 

 did not measure as much. The average size 

 of a bull moose's feet is 6^ inches. 



When a bull elk has lived past his prime 

 some day he will be attacked by a pair of his 

 sons or grandsons — young chaps — agile and 

 strong. One youngster will attack him and 

 fight until he is exhausted, when he will step 

 to one side and the other will take his place, 

 while the first one will rest. When the 

 second one is out of breath the first one again 

 attacks his sire or grandsire, and so the fight 

 is continued until the patriarch is finally 

 killed. During all of this battle, the cows 

 will feed on placidly without paying the 

 slightest attention to the tragedy that is being 

 enacted before their very eyes. 



With the mountain rams almost a similar 

 program is carried out; in reality confirming 

 Darwin's theory of the survival of the fittest. 

 The old rams are driven away by their sons 

 or grandsons and compelled to associate with 

 the young rams from two to three years old. 



The horns of the decrepit old fellow may 



