A Morning Among Moose. 103 



A MORNING AMONG MOOSE. 



By Prof. Edward E. Prince, 



Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries, Ottawa. 



Some months ago, when on an official tour in New Brunswick, a 

 very unusual opportunity offered itself of seeing a small herd of Moo-ie 

 under conditions resembling in many respects those characteristic of 

 the wild state. 



Everybody is familiar with the magnificent head of our largest 

 native mammal, and the imposing palmate horns are a common orna- 

 ment about our houses and hotels ; but there are comparatively few 

 people who have ever beheld a living moose, and fewer still who have 

 seen this noble animal in his native haunts. It was with no ordinary 

 pleasure that, quite unexpectedly, I found myself one morning with a 

 tew hours at liberty, and was thus enabled in company with a friend, 

 to take a drive of four or five miles with the view of seeing the moose. 

 We retched the small trjct of forest country where, we had been in- 

 formed, the moose were located, and having found the owner, he most 

 willingly volunteered to show us his splendid captives. The personage 

 in question was a quaint character a veiitable Robinson Crusoe in 

 appearance and habits of life. 



From his log hut he led us along a tangled forest path, through an 

 extensive wo ded area covering some hundreds of acres securely fenced 

 in. We soon saw signs of moose. All the young shoots of certain 

 trees had been nibbled off, or rather had been sharply nipped ofl, as if 

 by a sharp, clean bite. In some places hardly a young leaf or terminal 

 bud could be seen. The moose, as is well known, prefers above all 

 things the young green tender sprigs on the branches of certain trees. 

 We also noticed on the path at several points dung traces, quite unlike 

 those of the cow, horse or sheep, being in fact olive brown ovoid 

 bodies, not unlike nut megs in shape and size. The trees now became 

 thicker and the foliage more dense, and our guide warned us to walk 

 more slowly and carefully, and to avoid treading on dead dry branches 

 Though partly domesticated the moose, we were informed, never wholly 



