their shelter in winter and making more congenial surroundings for 

 their enemies, the bear, lynx, etc., amongst the dead tree-tops and 

 underbrush, is the real cause for their migration. 



The writer remembers twenty years ago while moose were numer- 

 ous in the northern counties of the State, they were almost unlieard 

 of in our southern and middle counties, but today they are becoming 

 fairly well distributed throughout some of our southern counties 

 where good forest cover is afiforded them. We also find, where 

 moose have appeared within a few years in a new locality, that the 

 females are in the large majority, which leads us to believe the killing 

 off of the mature males for the past twenty-five years has resulted 

 in the females seeking new fields in search of mates. It is generally 

 conceded that the moose race has deteriorated physically in the past 

 few years, which I believe is due entirely to inbreeding. When 

 vigorous males were numerous, a young male must prove himself a 

 master or be driven from his mother's side to wander perhaps a year 

 or two alone, until he could win a fight in another family and become 

 ruler, and it must take many years of protection before the race can 

 again become bred to its standard of twenty-five years ago. 



Regarding the deer family, we find different factors that enter into 

 their existence from those that concern the moose, and it has been 

 claimed that moose and deer will not thrive in the same locality ; but 

 I think that is more a matter of food than enmity between the differ- 

 ent animals. In summer, the moose feed largely on aquatic plants, 

 by wading the streams and ponds, while the deer feed mainly on 

 twigs, both of deciduous trees and cedars, and during the winter 

 when the snow permits of travel, their favorite feeding places are 

 the green tops of kmibering operations. In winter moose, too, must 

 browse, so there is probably actual competition for food when both 

 occur in the same locality. Deer seem to enjoy the more open coun- 

 try and smaller wood lots, if unmolested, and therefore have become 

 well distributed throughout the State ; but the great hindrance to 

 the welfare and increase are the lynx and hunting hounds. We 

 often hear of adult deer that have been killed by the lynx during 

 the summer months. These conditions are more noticeable in the 

 northern counties, while in the agricultural sections we may hear 

 any day during the summer hounds baying in the woods, which has 

 a tendency to keep the deer moving, so that many fawns, if not 

 killed by these dogs, are left to starve by desertion by the parent. 

 I believe that a campaign of education should be started along the 

 lines of wild Hfe protection. If this can be done intelligently, 

 coupled with sane laws, well enforced, concerning all wild life, I 

 believe that our game animals may exist and increase so that we may 

 pass along to our children and their children more game than exists 

 today. Our wild life in Maine is a great asset, both from a senti- 

 mental as well as an economic standpoint, and we of today must see 

 that this great wealth is not squandered. 



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