35. Jefferson’s Giant Moose
When Jefferson showed up at Buffon’s home, ready for a confrontation, the Frenchman diplomatically put him off, delaying the debate for another time. However, during the dinner, somebody mentioned the North American moose, and Buffon declared that an animal of such size could not possibly exist in the continent’s poor environment.
A seething Jefferson sent a flurry of letters to America, begging anybody to kill the biggest moose they could find, and ship it to him in Paris. Finally, New Hampshire’s governor sent out hunters in the dead of winter to shoot the biggest bull moose they could bag. They did, then dragged it back to civilization for two weeks through heavy snow. A taxidermist stuffed it, before it was shipped to France. The taxidermist was inept, however, and the moose arrived in Paris in 1787 a stinking, putrid mess. A triumphant Jefferson immediately sent the decomposing corpse to Buffon, with a letter telling him to picture it with more fur and antlers. However, Jefferson never got a retraction from Buffon: the Count died before he could publicly disavow his claims.