Moose 165 



The horns of the bull Moose are developed for battle the 

 with his own kind. As soon as the rut is over they are of and 

 little use, and Nature, true to her principle of economy, "'"^^^"^^ 

 proceeds to get rid of them. In the depth of winter the 

 useless lumber is dropped. Earlier if the Moose be very 

 vigorous; later if he be a weakling. Yet he is not by any 

 means disarmed, for his mighty fore feet, armed with a pair 

 of stubby bayonets of horn, are ample protection against 

 any Wolf or Bear that might dare to assail him or the family 

 in his care. 



The "yarding of the Moose" is a familiar phrase that has 

 given rise to several misconceptions. Many persons think that 

 a Moose yard is a large place, having all the snow in it trampled 

 down smooth, and surrounded by a straight wall of untrodden 

 snow rising to the level of the deep soft covering of the forest 

 beyond. They imagine, farther, that, as soon as a storm 

 begins, the Moose gets to work, hoof and horn, to hammer the 

 new snow down level and hard within the yard. 



The fact is that, when the snow commences to deepen, a 

 Moose family — father, mother, and little ones — seek out some 

 place of abundant food, and, by winding daily in this, cover 

 the ground with a network of pathways. The longer they stay, 

 the more numerous and the wider the pathways become, so 

 that, finally, there are but few untrodden spaces of twenty 

 yards across. 



The deeper the snow in the woods the harder the Moose 

 must work for their food, since the lower bushes and ground 

 herbs are not now available, and thus the difference between 

 the snow in the yard and that in the woods increases. If the 

 food is sufficiently abundant in the yard, and no hunters ap- 

 proach, the Moose stay till spring. If the food gives out, they 

 must begin a perilous journey through the snow in search of 

 another good place. It is only during such a journey that 

 they fear the Wolves. They make it in single file, so that 

 the young ones in the rear do not have a very hard time, and 

 it is usually done with judgment founded on their memory of 

 the country. 



