# Moose in Sweden are called Elk. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 10, 2004, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003 "2004-11-10T12:24:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/61 "2005-06-12T02:59:42Z")
What do you call moose that keep rising from the dead? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/62 "2005-06-12T03:17:23Z")
> [@Wile E](#): > > What do you call moose that keep rising from the dead? The Return of the Zombie Moosie Thread? ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/63 "2005-06-12T05:21:23Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > … overlabelling tuna with the redundant tuna-fish. What, like there’s a tuna bird out there somewhere. Mmmm, tuna bird. The elusive “Chicken-of-the-Sea”. > [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > Isn’t a wolverine a carcajou in Canada and a glutton in Europe? I’ve always heard wolverine = _kinkajou_ = badger. At an early age I was also confused about the difference between: lynx and bobcat; rabbit and hare; mountain lion and cougar; frog and toad; turtle, tortoise and terrapin; cottonmouth and water moccasin; and the one that still gets me today - ass, donkey, burro, jack, jenny, mule and hinny. Yeah, I know most of these are distinct species, like skunk and polecat (and civet cat?), but they sure seemed awfully damned similar to a kid! ---
**Author:** ![aurelian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@aurelian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurelian)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/64 "2005-06-12T11:15:56Z")
Are there chipmunks in the south (US)? When I was going to school in Iowa, my friend from Texas called them ‘ground squirrels’. What the heck is a ground squirrel? …and then there are the squirrels I saw in France and Spain, that are kinda reddish and have pointy tufted ears. They somehow looked meaner than the fluffy brown squirrels I’m used to. ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/65 "2005-06-12T14:04:58Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Moose are farmed in Scandinavia for their meat, and IIRC their milk. I worked for an agency that did a feasibility study on whether moose farming could be done in the U.S. (Conclusion: unlikely to be successful if whitetail deer are present in the area, and in any case not economically sound.) Uhm, cite? As far as this Swede knows elks are not farmed (some are kept inside fences to show to tourists though) I cannot imagine that anyone milks them either. They did try to use them for cavalry back in the 18th century I believe but that experiment was unsuccessful. > [@](#): > > Among the souvenirs of that study, though, was a large traffic sign from Sweden warning “Moose Crossing.” I’ll bet you nobody here has one of **them** in their office! Those signs are pretty popular with tourists and a very large number get stolen every year despite being welded to the poles. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/66 "2005-06-12T14:35:39Z")
> [@Coil](#): > > Uhm, cite? As far as this Swede knows elks are not farmed (some are kept inside fences to show to tourists though) I cannot imagine that anyone milks them either. Perhaps Polycarp was thinking of reindeer (a.k.a. caribou, IIANM), domesticated by the Saami. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/67 "2005-06-12T14:42:44Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > Isn’t a wolverine a \*carcajou \* in Canada and a \*glutton \* in Europe? Never heard of the word “carcajou” and I’m Canadian born and bred; I’ve never heard of wolverines being called anything other than wolverines. In case you were thinking of a french word, I checked [wolverine](http://fr.wordreference.com/fr/Translation.asp?enfr=wolverine&v=b) and it showed the french translation as _blaireau du Labrador_ or _glouton_. Maybe the latter is what you meant when you typed _glutton_? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/68 "2005-06-12T14:50:50Z")
> [@Rhubarb](#): > > I’ve always heard wolverine = _kinkajou_ = badger. As fighting ignorance goes on unresolved… 😉 A [kinkajou](http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0310/feature2/) is a small nocturnal animal common to Central and South America. “Carcajou” is a French word for wolverine. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/69 "2005-06-12T14:54:39Z")
> [@aurelian](#): > > Are there chipmunks in the south (US)? When I was going to school in Iowa, my friend from Texas called them ‘ground squirrels’. What the heck is a ground squirrel? [Ground squirrel](http://davidgoforth.com/id211.htm) [Golden mantled ground squirrel](http://www.montereybay.com/creagrus/chipmunks.html) (very similar to a chipmunk in coloring). ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/70 "2005-06-12T15:07:45Z")
Ah, yes: [The Stoat.](http://gofree.indigo.ie/~daveck/magicstoat.html) Please allow me to be an attention whore for a moment… ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/71 "2005-06-12T15:14:01Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > A kiwi is only ever a bird outside the US. There are a great many types of gooseberries, some are green, some purple, some black, some brown. There is a large gooseberry, sometimes known as the Chinese gooseberry, which was marketed by New Zealand growers as a kiwi-fruit and the name stuck, hence the gooseberry became known as the kiwi-fruit over much of the world. Except in the US for some reason where it became known as a kiwi. > > Which is odd given the American propensity for overlabelling tuna with the redundant tuna-fish. What, like there’s a tuna bird out there somewhere. But in the case of kiwi where the identifier really is necessary it gets excluded. > People are strange. So, they call the avian kiwis in American zoos something else? 😕 And the Chinese gooseberry, as far as I’m aware, isn’t a true gooseberry at all. Turners & Growers gave it the name in the 1950s as an international marketing tool. I think you’ll find “kiwi” as the name of the fruit in Europe as well as the US. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/72 "2005-06-12T15:14:48Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > As fighting ignorance goes on unresolved… 😉 > > A [kinkajou](http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0310/feature2/) is a small nocturnal animal common to Central and South America. “Carcajou” is a French word for wolverine. And I always thought a kinkajou was one of The Chosen People who was into bondage! Thank you! I’m here all week – try the chowder! ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/73 "2005-06-12T18:13:09Z")
[polecat](http://www.les-borg-photography.co.uk/polecat.htm) [stoat](http://www.landcare.org.nz/biodiversity/images/Full/stoat.jpg) (and lest you think, “Ahhh, he’s cute!” - [nuh-uh!](http://www.mhcbe.ab.ca/st_francis/gr1/Webquests/pen-stoat.jpg)) [American Badger](http://animals.timduru.org/dirlist/badger/NorthAmericanBadger13-On_Swamp_Edge.JPG) [European Badger](http://animals.timduru.org/dirlist/badger/Bold-EuropeanBoarBadger-EurasianBadger.jpg) [Honey Badger](http://www.wildlifesafari.info/images/honey_badger_1.jpg) [Mushroom](http://ky-festivals.org/success/mushroom/the-longest-mushroom.jpg) [Mushroom](http://www.ppgia.pucpr.br/~maziero/diversos/foto/amanita.jpg) [Aaaah! Snake!](http://www.wildlife-patrol.com/snake/southern-copperhead.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/74 "2005-06-12T20:32:09Z")
> [@Wile E](#): > > What do you call moose that keep rising from the dead? Damned stubborn. ( **Polycarp** : man, that poem hits me where I live ::sniff:🙂 Which reminds me: what do they call a large group of carp in Sweden? ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/75 "2005-06-12T20:34:09Z")
Damned vB code - that’s supposed to be ::sniff:🙂 ! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/76 "2005-06-12T21:22:24Z")
> [@](#): > > At an early age I was also confused about the difference between: lynx and bobcat; rabbit and hare; mountain lion and cougar; frog and toad; turtle, tortoise and terrapin; cottonmouth and water moccasin; and the one that still gets me today - ass, donkey, burro, jack, jenny, mule and hinny. Lynx are rather smaller than bobcats. I don’t remember the difference between rabbits and hares exactly, except that the jackrabbit is the latter rather than the former (I think it’s something about the legs). Mountain lion, cougar, and puma are all synonymous, as are tortoise and terrapin and cottonmouth and water moccasin. Frogs are more aquatic than toads, and turtles are more aquatic than tortoises. Ass, donkey, and burro are all synonymous, with jack being the name for the male of that species and jenny for the female. Mules and hinnies are both donkey/horse hybrids, with differing parentage. And the reason that Amercans call tuna tuna fish is that if we didn’t, it’d ruin the punchline to “What’s the difference between a piano and a fish?”. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/77 "2005-06-12T21:56:50Z")
[QUOTE=aurelian] Are there chipmunks in the south (US)?]Dunno, but squirrels hang out in palm trees in Florida. That’s just…wrong, you know? > [@](#): > > …and then there are the squirrels I saw in France and Spain… Mallard in Spain, too! Talk about a “like, WHOA” moment. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/78 "2005-06-12T23:54:24Z")
Lynx actually tend to be larger than bobcats. The difference between rabbits and hares is a bit more clear to the casual observer in Europe than here in America…besides rabbits being born blind and furless and hares being born fully-sighted and with fur, in Europe, rabbits dig extensive tunnel systems called warrens and hares don’t. But since the American cottontail rabbit doesn’t dig burrows, but rather clears out a sett, like hares do, that tends to blur on this side of the Atlantic. Hares are also usually larger than rabbits. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2005, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003/79 "2005-10-17T20:53:29Z")
[Moose attacks moose statue.](http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1136389.ece) Guess he couldn’t find an inflatable moose to get it on with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moose-in-sweden-are-called-elk/274003.md?page=3)