86 
THE STORY OF THE ELK . 
appendage on the throat formed by a dilatation of the skin, and covered with 
long and coarse blackish hairs. This appendage may vary in length from 
four to ten inches, and is known to the American hunters as the bell; its use is 
unknown. 
The sense of smell in the elk is very acute, and enables it to detect an 
enemy at a great distance. From the peculiar character of the lip, the animal 
is enabled to pull down the tender branches of the maple and other trees upon 
which it feeds. It is so heavy that, when walking on snow, its feet sink 
through to the ground. The moose has been domesticated and taught to 
draw sledges and carts. It is not a vicious animal, although dangerous 
enough when brought to bay. The tongue is much esteemed by epicures. 
From the great height of the shoulders, above the crupper, its gait is very 
awkward and clumsy, and, when the animal moves rapidly, the hind legs are 
thrown very much apart. 
In Sweden and Norway elk are either hunted by being driven or stalked. 
In the autumn of 1885 the elk in the forest of Huneberg, which had been 
preserved for thirty-five years, were hunted by a royal party, when fifty-one 
head were shot; and in 1888 upwards of sixty-six were killed in the same 
forest. In this country there are now three legitimate methods of elk¬ 
hunting, namely, stalking or still-hunting, fire-hunting, and calling; the 
wholesale slaughter of the animals when imprisoned in their yards by the 
snows of winter having fortunately been prohibited by the legislature. In 
the far west, the best season for elk-hunting is during the months of October 
and November; the first snowfalls occurring in the mountains during the 
latter month, and the males being then incessantly calling or fighting with 
their fellows. To be successful in elk-stalking requires the aid of an ex¬ 
perienced Indian guide, as very few men of European descent can attain that 
marvellous skill in tracking which appears to come naturally to the Indian. 
It appears to be only in the north-eastern districts that the practice of 
calling with a birch-bark pipe is followed, as the custom is quite unknown in 
the Rocky Mountains. The Indian, having selected a favorable position for 
his purpose, generally on the margin of a lake, heath, or bog, where he can 
readily conceal himself, puts his birchen trumpet to his mouth, and gives the 
call of the cow moose in a manner so startling and truthful that only the edu* 
cated ear of an Indian could detect the counterfeit. If the call is successful, 
presently the responsive bull moose is heard crashing through the forest, 
uttering his blood-curdling bellow or roar, and rattling his antlers against the 
trees in challenge to all rivals. In other districts the call of the male is imi- 
