THE IDAHO MOOSE. 



Bj' HARLOW BROOKS, M.D. 



M 



ADISON GRANT, in his article concerning- the range of 

 the moose,* mentions the appearance of this animal in 

 southeastern Idaho. Except for this widely quoted, though brief 

 description, I have been unable to find any account of the Idaho 

 moose based on actual observation of the animal, which as Mr. 

 Grant states, differs very materially from the ordinary moose of 

 Canada and the northeastern portion of the United States. 



Since it has been my privilege to have spent some nine weeks 

 in the country frequented by this moose I have, at the suggestion 

 of Prof. H. F. Osborn and Mr. Grant, undertaken to record my 

 observations, though in a very amateurish way, in the hope that 

 I may add some small portion to the sum total of our knowledge 

 concerning the most magnificent member of our native deer. 



Throughout this report I shall constantly compare the Idaho 

 moose with the animal as it is found in eastern Canada and Maine. 

 As my previous experience has been gained chiefly in Ontario 

 and Quebec my standard of comparison doubtless adheres most 

 closely to the moose found in these localities. 



The Idaho moose are found in southeastern Idaho and in the 

 southwestern part of the Yellowstone Park, in the territory com- 

 prised between the eleventh auxiliary meridian on the west and 

 the Fall or Cascade Creek on the east. Their present range does 

 not extend beyond the southern branch of the Warm River on the 

 north and the Big Robinson on the south, though formerly they 

 were found as far south as the Jackson's Hole Country and east 

 of the North Fork of the Snake River in Idaho, Wyoming, and 

 Montana. 



For the past ten years their range has become more and more 

 restricted until they are now seen in large numbers only on a table- 

 land locally known as the Big Black Mountain or Moose Moun- 

 tain. Though occasionally stray moose are found several miles 

 from this tract, the fact that this is but rarelv the case indicates 



Seventh Report, New York State Forest, Fish, and Game Commission. 



