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• Latin Meaning: Rhythmically inarticulated (rythmopes inarticulatus.)
• Identification: Jointless legs,leathery head and neck, four toes, long bushy tail, and extremely long upper lip.
• Distribution: Western Wisconsin to Northern Minnesota extending nortward to Hudson Bay.
• Diet: The Hugag subsides on bark and branches.
• Niches: Only method of sleeping is bracing its legs and leaning againts trees; travels frequently.
THE HUGAG.
(Rythmopes inarticulatus.)
The hugag is a huge animal of the Lake States. Its range
includes western Wisconsin, northern Minnesota, and a terri-
tory extending indefinitely northward in the Canadian wilds
toward Hudson Bay. In size the hugag may be compared to
the moose, and in form it somewhat resembles that animal.
Very noticeable, however, are its jointless legs, which compel
the animal to remain on its feet, and its long upper lip, which
prevents it from grazing. If it tried that method of feeding it
would simply tramp its upper lip into the dirt. Its head and
neck are leathery and hairless ; its strangely corrugated ears
flop downward ; its four-toed feet, long bushy tail, shaggy coat
and general make-up give the beast an unmistakably prehistoric
appearance. The hugag has a perfect mania for traveling, and
few hunters who have taken up its trail ever came up with the
beast or back to camp. It is reported to keep going all day
long, browsing on twigs, flopping its lip around trees, and
stripping bark as occasion offers, and at night, since it cannot
lie down, it leans against a tree, bracing its hind legs and mark-
ing time with its front ones. The most successful hugag
hunters have adopted the practice of notching trees so that they
are almost ready to fall, and when the hugag leans up against
one both the tree and the animal come down. In its helpless
condition it is then easily dispatched. The last one killed, so
far as known, was on Turtle River, in northern Minnesota,
where a young one, weighing 1,800 pounds, was found stuck
in the mud. It was knocked in the head by Mike Flynn, of
Cass Lake. #########################################
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