(_Alces machlis_)
Although the elk can claim an easy superiority in the matter of size
over all the other members of the deer tribe, it certainly cannot be
accorded a high position in the scale of beauty. For, truth to say, it
is an ugly and ungainly creature, with disproportionately long legs,
and huge head terminating in a broad, flabby, and almost trunk-like
muzzle. By the sportsman, however, it is held in high estimation, owing
to the magnificent trophies formed by its great spreading antlers,
which in Alaskan specimens may have a span of as much as six feet. And
when the build of the elk is considered in relation to its mode of
life, we see that what appears ugly and ungainly to our eyes is merely
adaptation to a particular mode of life. For in summer the elk spends
much of its time wading belly-deep in marshes and lakes in search of
the water-plants which form a large proportion of its food at this
season; and in this pursuit its long limbs must obviously be of the
greatest advantage, while the broad and mobile muzzle is specially well
adapted for gathering in the floating leaves and stalks. Possibly the
almost wholly hairy extremity of the muzzle is another adaptation to
the same end. The elk typifies the wading type among mammals just as
much as does the flamingo among birds.
Like many other mammals of northern Europe, the elk has a circumpolar
distribution, although most Transatlantic naturalists regard its
American representatives in the light of a distinct species rather than
as local races.
In common with the brown bear, the elk attains its maximum stature
in Alaska, where it towers to a height of close on seven feet at the
shoulder. At one time an inhabitant of the British Isles, the elk
is still found in many parts of Germany and Austria-Hungary, and
is abundant in Scandinavia; from these countries its range extends
eastward through Poland and Russia, and thence across the whole of
Siberia. On the other side of Bering Strait it reappears in Alaska,
whence it ranges through British Columbia to Maine and other parts of
the United States. The differences between the elk (or moose, as it is
there called) of the United States and the typical elk of Scandinavia
are so slight that it requires an expert to distinguish between the two.
It is, however, very noteworthy that certain Scandinavian elk never
develop the huge expansions, or “shovels,” which form the most
characteristic feature of the antlers of the species, but carry only
five simple tines; and in east Siberia this simpler type of antler
seems to be very prevalent.
[Illustration]
A peculiar feature of the bull elk is the curious hairy appendage
hanging from the throat, known to hunters as the “bell.”
Elk are polygamous, like the majority of the deer tribe; and in the
breeding season the two sexes learn each others’ whereabouts by means
of a loud “call” or bellowing, which in some districts, at any rate,
appears to be uttered by males and females alike. The call can easily
be imitated with the aid of a horn or trumpet, and by this means many a
fine old bull is lured to his destruction. Elk are adepts in concealing
themselves in the thickets to which they resort during the daytime.
In winter, when they are compelled to subsist on bark and twigs,
especially those of the birch, these giant deer experience very hard
times; and in North America a bull and two or three cows often form
what is called a “yard” in the forest, by constantly trampling down the
snow over a certain area, and thus keeping themselves from being snowed
up. The female gives birth to one or two calves at a time, which are
even more ungainly-looking than their parents.
It should be added, that in America the term “elk” is misapplied to the
wapiti, while in Ceylon it is bestowed on the sambar deer.