Moose 181 



like a dog; also it was as playful as a kitten, and would like 

 a kitten play with a round pebble, or croquet ball, striking it 

 with Its front feet and running after it. It would also gambol 

 with the children, dogs, or young cattle. But its playful slaps 

 were no fun for whoever got them, so were not encouraged '' 

 I have seen a number of Moose that had been broken to 

 harness. They are docile, easily broken, exceedingly swift 

 and, being natural trotters, are well suited for light travel' 

 They are so much more tractable and valuable than reindeer 

 that one wonders why they have not been fully domesticated 

 in the countries where they are indigenous; but if taken out 

 of their native surroundings they rarely survive long. 



In all the vast region that is dotted on my map the Moose gift of 

 IS or was, the Indians' staff of life. What the Buffalo was to toT' 

 the Flams, the Whitetail Deer to the southern woods, and the 

 Caribou to the Barrens, the Moose is to this great northern 

 belt of swamp and timber land. 



It is the creature that enables the natives to live. Assisted 

 in warm weather by various fish, it bears practically the burden 

 of their support. Its delicious steaks are their staple food but 

 Its nose or muffle is a delicacy. Its hide furnishes the 'best 

 clothing and moccasin leather, or provides snow-shoes that 

 enable the hunter to kill more Moose. Its back sinew is the 

 sewing thread of the country, its horns and bones make tools 

 Its hoofs can be converted into rattles, and its coarse, bristly 

 mane, six inches long, and white except the tips, furnishes raw 

 material for embroidery. When dyed with native dyes and 

 skilfully worked into leather and birch-bark, these bristles are 

 as effective as Porcupine quills— are indeed often mistaken for 

 them by the uninitiated. 



The enemies of the Moose are, in order of danger: Man, enemies 

 mosquitoes, deer-flies, ticks, disease, deep snow. Wolves, Bears, 

 and Cougars. Without doubt man should stand first, since 

 pump guns have come into use. 



Nature has two devices for offsetting deep snow: one is 



