THE MOOSE. 541 



The Elk lives in a family composed of a male, a female, and the young 

 of two generations. 



THE MOOSE. 



The MOOSE, Alecs Anicricanus, which is also called the Black Elk 

 and the Flat-horned Elk, is said by the naturalists who form it into 

 a separate species to be distinguished from the European variety by 

 deeper indentations in the palmated antlers, by the slightness of the 

 beard, and the darker color of its coat. Its antlers are larger than those 

 of the European Elk, sometimes weighing seventy-five pounds and meas- 

 uring thirty-two inches long and thirty-one broad. " The Moose deer," 

 Hamilton Smith writes, " is higher than a horse, and when seen fully 

 grown and in all its spread of antlers, makes a striking impression." 



The Moose is confined to the northern regions of the continent, Can- 

 ada, and New Brunswick, sometimes appearing in Maine and Northern 

 New York. Franklin saw it at the mouth of the Mackenzie River in 65 

 north latitude. Its habits and food, as well as its general configuration, 

 are those of the Elk of the Old World. From its custom of browsing on 

 trees and eating the bark, the Indians gave this animal the name of musee 

 or " wood-eater," whence comes our word Moose. 



The young Moose can be easily tamed, and learn in a few days to 

 know their keeper and follow him with confidence. But as they grow 

 older, they grow worse in temper, and become savage and dangerous. 



Audubon, who had the gratification of bringing a Moose down with 

 his rifle and examining it in detail, states that to him he appeared awk- 

 ward in his gait, clumsy in his limbs, and inelegant in form. The head, 

 he adds, is long and clumsy, the snout is long and almost prehensile, the 

 eye deep-seated, and small in comparison with the jackass-like head. 



During the winter several of these animals associate together and 

 form groups of two, three, or four, and make what is technically called 

 " a vard " by beating down the snow ; in such places they feed on all the 

 branches they can reach, stripping the trees of their bark, and breaking 

 boughs as thick as a man's thigh. When obliged to run, the male goes 

 first, breaking the way, the others tread exactly in his tracks, and when 

 their path runs through other " yards," they all join together, still going 

 in Indian file. 



The seasons for hunting the Moose are March and September. The 



