THE SAVAGE WORLD 
581 
The Moose (Alces malchis , or americdjtus ,) is still found in considerable 
numbers in Maine. It is about seven feet high, and its large, heavy horns are 
palmated. It is dark brown, with yellow legs, and corresponds to the elk of 
northern Europe. It can go over obstacles and through the brush (at which times 
it lays its head well back on its shoulders), is awkward and clumsy, but fleet and 
enduring, shy, but capable of the most dreadful attacks with its hoofs and its horns. 
Its flesh is held in esteem and its horns and skin serve many useful purposes. 
It will, on the average, weigh some seven hundred pounds, of which its horns claim 
a twelfth; such a weight brought iuto sudden contact with a tree of ordinary 
size will at once uproot it, and, as it were, crush it. Its sense of hearing is 
A SAVAGE PURSUIT. 
painfully acute, and its watchfulness correspondingly great. The rustle of a 
leaf, or the snapping of the least twig will be excuse enough to the moose for 
a full hour’s listening. Were it not for the winter season, with its provision 
of moose-yards and deceptive snow-crust, the moose might safely defy pursuit. 
The snow-yards which it constructs are frequently four or five miles in diameter. 
During the rutting season the Indians imitate the call of the buck, and there 
always seems to be one to answer the challenge. It can remain under water 
almost indefinitely, which fact adds to the difficulties of the chase. During the 
winter, if a moose is found outside of a moose-yard, it is pretty sure to be 
chased and killed by the wolves. 
