CHAPTER XV 



TRAITS AND HABITS OF THE ELK 



Elk have been subjects of closer observation in 

 many portions of their European range than have 

 the moose in America. The precise knowledge 

 of the elk's traits and habits which might be 

 expected from this fact is nevertheless lacking. 



In respect to his size writers are hopelessly out of 

 accord, owing to the lack of an accepted rule for 

 ascertaining dimensions. Of one fact there can 

 be no doubt, however — the elk of average size is 

 smaller than the average moose. Sir Henry 

 Pottinger, who for six years leased preserves in 

 Sweden and Norway and hunted elk with much 

 success, gave the height at the withers of the aver- 

 age full-grown Scandinavian elk as 68 or 69 inches, 

 and the girth as 83 or 84 inches.' The live weight 

 he was unable to ascertain. Russian writers 

 describe elk weighing, undrawn, from 1075 to iioo 

 pounds, but these they admit are exceedingly rare. 



^ Big Game Shooting (London, 1894), vol. ii., p. 130. 



300 



