What Are The Physical Characteristics Of The Musk Ox?
The Musk Ox has a short neck and a large head, and he may weigh some 800 pounds. He has massive, sharp-pointed horns that curve downward and then hook upward at the tip. The cows and young also have horns, but they are smaller in size. Because of these formidable horns one Arctic explorer called the musk ox the “world’s most dangerous game animal.” Though the musk ox has short, stout legs, he is agile and travels faster than a man can run. His white-stockinged legs end in wide split hoofs especially designed to make them sure-footed when climbing rocky prominences. The rim of the hoof has a sharp cutting edge useful for pawing through the shallow, frozen snow cover on windswept slopes to reach the sparse grass and low-growing plants on which they feed. The musk ox is not really an ox but is a relative of the chamois of Europe, and so is a kind of goat antelope. Unlike the musk deer, the musk ox does not really have specialized musk glands. But during the breeding season, the males do g
