THE MOOSE. 433 



most accessible* to the hunter. This is, perhaps, owing to the 

 infinite number of lakes, and the prevalence of swampy, low-lying 

 woods and bogs in which he loves to dwell." ^ 



A male moose, when full grown, stands between five and 

 six feet at the shoulder. Individuals of the exceptional size 

 of seven feet, have occasionally been shot. The colour of 

 the moose is a varying ash, the hairs darkening towards their 

 tips, but in winter it assumes a much denser hue, sometimes 

 almost black, which is a singular reversal of the change that 

 other animals undergo who inhabit high latitudes, for they 

 generally become lighter in colour, or even white, when the cold 

 weather sets in. 



The moose differs from the other members of the cervidoi family 

 in several important features, especially with respect to the shape 

 of the horns and the character of the nose. In the ordinary deer, 

 of which the European red deer is a good type, the antlers have a 

 rounded shape, and the nose is moist and naked. In the moose, how- 

 ever, the horns are broadly palmated, and the wide nose or muffle 

 is, with the exception of a small naked spot, entirely covered with 

 hair. The upper lip is long and prehensile, the ears are also con- 

 spicuously long and large ; the neck is short, and remarkable for 

 its thick shaggy mane ; while the limbs are disproportionately long, 

 which gives the animal the peculiar appearance that immediately 

 strikes the beholder. The male animal has also a pendulous 

 gland which hangs under the lower jaw and is covered with long 

 hair. The massive horns, however, constitute one of nature's 

 most ornamental productions. The wide palmated parts are 

 fringed with short spikes or tines, and get larger and larger every 

 year, until they attain their full development on the animal arriving 

 at maturity. They are then very large, and have been known to 

 measure over five feet from their base, the palmated parts at their 

 greatest breadth being over fourteen inches, and at their juncture 

 with the skull nearly ten inches in circumference, while in weight 

 they may be anywhere between forty and sixty pounds. An adult 

 moose sheds its horns in the month of January, and they are not 

 perfectly restored until the summer is well advanced. The velvet 



' Scrihner's Monthly, 1878. 



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