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ELK

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 288 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ELK , or See also:

MoosE, the largest of all the See also:deer tribe, distinguished from other members of the Cervidae by the See also:form of the antlers of the See also:males. These arise as cylindrical beams projecting on each See also:side at right angles to the See also:middle See also:line of the See also:skull, which after a See also:short distance See also:divide in a See also:fork-like manner. The See also:lower prong of this fork may be either See also:simple, or divided into two or three tines, with some flattening. In the See also:East Siberian elk (Alces machlis bedfordiae) the posterior See also:division of the See also:main fork divides into three tines, with no distinct flattening. In the See also:common elk (A. machlis or A. alces), on the other See also:hand, this See also:branch usually expands into a broad palmation, with one large tine at the See also:base, and a number of smaller snags on the See also:free border; there is, however, a phase of the Scandinavian elk in which the antlers are simpler, and recall those of the East Siberian See also:race. The palmation appears to be more marked in the See also:North See also:American race (A. m. americanus) than in the typical Scandinavian elk. The largest of all is the Alaskan race (A. m. gigas), which is said to stand 8 ft. in height, with a span of 6 ft. across the antlers. The See also:great length of the legs gives a decidedly ungainly See also:appearance to the elk. The muzzle is See also:long and fleshy, with only a very small triangular naked patch below the nostrils; and the males have a See also:peculiar See also:sac, known as the See also:bell, See also:hanging from the See also:neck. From the shortness of their necks, elks are unable to graze, and their See also:chief See also:food consists of See also:young shoots and leaves of See also:willow and See also:birch. In North See also:America during the See also:winter one male and several See also:females form a " moose-yard " in the See also:forest, which they keep open by trampling the See also:snow. Although generally timid, the males become very bold during the breeding See also:season, when the females utter a loud See also:call; and at such times they fight both with their antlers and their hoofs.

The usual See also:

pace is a shambling trot, but when pressed elks break into a gallop. The See also:female gives See also:birth to one or two young at a See also:time, which are not spotted. In America the elk is known as the moose, and the former name is transferred to the wapiti deer. (R.

End of Article: ELK

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