MOOSE. 235 



of the last individual in the State. In July a Mr. Blossom killed a cow moose on 

 the south inlet of Raquette Lake, and later in the same month his companion, Mr. 

 Tait, while jacking on Marion River, wounded a young moose, but lost him in the 

 dark. Early in August a bull calf was killed near the same place by a guide named 

 William Wood. It had been wounded, and was unquestionably the one hit by Mr. 

 Tait. Marks of a bull were seen in the neighborhood. 



"The last authentic moose in the Adirondacks was killed in tlie autumn of the 

 same year, on the east inlet of Raquette Lake. A party of sportsmen, guided by 

 Palmer of Long Lake, was canoeing down Marion River toward the lake. On turn- 

 ing a bend in the river they were surprised to see a huge creature start up among 

 the lily-pads and plunge wildly toward the shore. Several charges of shot were fired 

 with no visible effect, when Palmer took deliberate aim with his rifle, and killed the 

 animal on the spot. It proved to be a cow moose, the last known native of its race 

 in New York State." 



As to the question of restocking the Adirondacks, the State is greatly to be con- 

 gratulated on the efforts now being made in that direction. I wish the promoters 

 of this undertaking the greatest success, but I think the difficulties will prove greater 

 than they anticipate. In my opinion at least one hundred individuals, scattered in 

 small bunches of five or ten in different sections of the woods, must be turned loose, 

 and an intelligent public sentiment must be aroused for their protection. The first 

 offender, who through stupidity or malice shoots a moose under the alleged impres- 

 sion that it is a domestic cow, should be very severely punished. One conviction 

 involving imprisonment of the offender, if only for a short period, will go a long 

 way toward the enforcement of the law. 



Owners of private parks in the Adirondacks, notably Mr. Edward H. Litchfield, 

 are doing great public service in their efforts to reintroduce moose, and I am inclined 

 to think that it will be in these large parks that the first successful restocking 

 will take place. Mr. Litchfield has set a noble example in his efforts to allow 

 Nature to reassert herself in her own way, by removing the scars of the axe in the 

 forest and filling the gaps caused by the rifle and the steel trap among the native 

 animals. 



None but animals native to the Adirondacks should be introduced there, and 

 these animals are sufficiently interesting and varied. Of the Deer Family, the moose, 

 the wapiti and the Virginia deer are all that belong in the Adirondacks, and if 

 restored in their pristine numbers would take all the available supply of food. 

 Among the larger carnivora, the wolf and tlie panther, we shall have to get along 

 without ; but the bear is a harmless and interesting feature of the wilderness. He 



