66 



THE AMERICAN MOOSE 



The height at the shoulder should be measured 

 in a straight line between perpendiculars when the 

 animal is lying on the ground, one perpendicular 

 being close to the skin at the shoulder, and the 

 other at the bottom of the hoof when the leg is 

 straight and the bottom of the hoof parallel with 

 the body.^ 



A large moose is taller than the tallest horse, 

 but the largest horse is much heavier than the 

 heaviest moose. With long legs and short body 

 the moose gains in height by comparison with the 

 horse, without gaining in weight in proportion. 

 The live weight of full-grown moose has seldom 

 been ascertained. The dressed weight being 

 known, it is easy to introduce a considerable 



six feet and nine inches." The reader must wait till he reaches page 

 375 of Mr. Selous's book to learn that the measurement was made to 

 "the extremity of the hair on the shoulder blade." The hair was 

 doubtless from seven to nine inches long. Measurements of height, 

 accordingly, must be accepted with some reserve in the absence of a 

 specific statement regarding the manner in which the measurement 

 was made. 



^American Natural History (N. Y., 1914), vol. i., p. xxx. A writer 

 in the Century Magazine for January, 1894, says, "In October, 1880, 

 George Ross killed in Muskoka [Ontario], a moose which, when care- 

 fully measured by several persons, stood eight feet two inches at the 

 shoulders," but we are not informed how the measurement was made. 

 It is well to have the aid of "several persons" if it is desired to establish 

 a record. One or two can haul on the hoof while others, in a sort of 

 tug of war, pull at the antlers. The distance between the point of the 

 hoof and the ends of the hair of a long bristling mane in such a case ought 

 to show some big figures. But the measurer should state how the 

 dimension was ascertained. 



