24 



MAMMALS OF AMERICA 



laws of many of the States, notably those of 

 Maine, the Moose is now no longer in danger 

 of extermination. It is hunted by several 

 methods: calling (referred to above), still-hunt- 

 ing, fire-hunting from a canoe, and " crusting." 

 The last two methods are considered unsports- 

 manlike. Crusting often degenerates into mere 

 butchery, the animal breaking through the crust 

 of snow and becoming helpless before its pur- 

 suers. Hunters who employ this method are often 

 charged by Moose. They follow the animals on 



edge of the shore ahead of us. We paddled up 

 to within a hundred yards of it. Then it looked 

 at us. but paid no further heed. \\'e were rather 

 surprised at this, but paddled on past it, and it 

 then walked along the shore after us. Another 

 hundred yards put us to windward of it. Instead 

 of turning into the forest, when it got our wind, 

 it merely bristled up the hair on its withers, 

 shook its head, and continued to walk after the 

 canoe along the shore. I had heard of bull 

 Moose during the rut attacking men, but never 



r 



At 



it 



cow MOOSE 

 This Cow was lured to within fifteen feet of the camera by the operator, who grunted like a Bull Moose 



■snowshoes during the late winter and early 

 spring when the Moose have " yarded." A 

 " yard," it should be explained, is a spot chosen 

 by a Moose herd for their winter home because 

 it contains plenty of browse and is sheltered 

 from heavy snowdrifts. Across this space the 

 Moose travel to and fro. making regular, beaten 

 paths. 



On the general question, " Will Moose attack 

 man without ])rovocation ?" Colonel Roosevelt 

 throws some light in an article in Scribner's, in 

 which he says: "When half a mile from the 

 landing we saw another big bull Moose on the 



of anything as wanton and deliberate as this 

 action, and I could hardly believe the Moose 

 meant mischief ; but Arthur said it did ; and 

 obviously we could not land with the big, black, 

 evil-looking beast coming for us. I was most 

 anxious not to have to shoot it. The Moose 

 turned and followed us, shaking his head and 

 threatening us. As soon as we stopped, he 

 rushed down the trail toward us, coming into the 

 lake. Where the water was deep, we pushed the 

 canoe in close to him, and he promptly rushed 

 down to the water's edge, shaking his head and 

 striking the earth with his fore hoofs." 



