278 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 



mestication, else sufficient stock could not have been procured for 

 general use. If once fairly subjected to domestication and use it 

 may be difficult to understand why it was given up in a country 

 so well adapted to its use. On this subject we may receive the 

 statement of Mr. Lloyd in explanation. He says : " Formerly 

 these animals were made use of in Sweden to draw sledges ; but 

 owing, as it was said, to their speed frequently accelerating the 

 escape of people who had been guilty of murders or other crimes, 

 their use was prohibited under great penalties. Though I ap- 

 prehend those ordinances, if not abrogated are obsolete, I am 

 not aware that the elk are ever made use of in that kingdom at 

 the present day either to draw a sledge or for other domestic 

 purposes." ^ Again, in a subsequent and more elaborate work,^ 

 the same author says : " The elk can be easily domesticated. 

 Several instances have come to my knowledge, when brought 

 up from a tender age, have become nearly as tame as the cattle, 

 with which they were, not unfrequently, allowed to consort and 

 pasture. But I never heard of this animal being trained to har- 

 ness as formerly was often the case in Scandinavia." 



It is to be deeply regretted that some one, in a locality in this 

 country adapted to their natural wants, has not thoroughly tried 

 the experiment of domesticating our Moose, and determined the 

 practicability of breeding them in domestication and of their 

 uses. We may fear that there would be found difficulty in pro- 

 curing an abundance of their favorite food, around habitations 

 or in enclosures, but as we shall presently see that our elk is 

 healthy and thrives well on herbaceous food almost entirely, so 

 it might prove that the Moose can prosper on a less proportion of 

 arboreous food than he gets in the wild state. 



One of the most remarkable features of this deer, which dis- 

 tinguishes it from all our other species, is its monogamous habit. 

 While seeking a companion during the rutting season the male is 

 no doubt very much in earnest, and manifests a high state of ex- 

 citement. When he finds himself accepted by an agreeable part- 

 ner they retire to a deep, secluded thicket in low marshy ground, 

 where they spend their honeymoon of three or four weeks quite 

 contented with each other's society, never leaving the locality, the 

 male at least scarcely taking food, living a rather quiet and re- 

 spectable life, quite in contrast to the one he led while he was a 

 roving bachelor seeking an associate. If, however, his quiet pri- 



^ Field Sports of the North of Europe, p. 331. 



^ Scandinavian Adventures, 2d. edition, London, 1854, p. 102. 



