MAMMALS OF MINNESOTA. - 373 
grazing like other deer. The moose is said to feed upon conifer- 
ous aS well as deciduous trees, which is rather exceptional. 
In winter higher ground is sought, but still in localities afford- 
ing abundant ‘‘browse.” When the snow becomes deep they 
are said to congregate in close herds and select a limited range 
which becomes more circumscribed as the snow deepens and 
becomes encrusted. This is called a ‘‘yarding” and a moose 
yard may occupy nearly one hundred acres. Such yards, when ~ 
discovered by the hunter, of course, are a capital prize. The 
females do not yard with the old males, the former often occu- 
pying separate yards with their calves. The younger males 
are quite gregarious, but as age increases a desire for solitude 
seems to augment till ultimately the patriarch becomes a her- 
mit, nursing his morose reflections in some isolated spot far 
from the haunts of his kind. 
The pursuit of the moose is rendered difficult by the keen- 
ness of his senses and extreme wariness. To stalk the animal 
even with firearms taxes the patience and skill of the Indian. 
When, however, the snow becomes covered with so firm a crust 
as to support the hunter and impede effectually the progress 
of the heavy animal, the chase of the moose becomes compara- 
tively easy to one familiar with its habits and haunts. When 
hunted at such times the herds pass in single file, each step- 
ping so accurately in the foot-prints of its predecessor as to 
lead any but an experienced person to suppose that buta single 
animal formed the trail. When moving rapidly, the leader 
becomes weary of breaking the way and steps to one side fall- 
ing in behind the others, and in this way they change in rota- 
tion, although a very chivalrous care is exercised in aiding the 
weaker members of the herd. 
During their confinement in yards at the hight of winter the 
accessible shrubs are very closely cropped, but ordinarily the 
tree is not killed since only one side is stripped. The bark is 
removed toa hight of ten feet as the animal rears upon its 
hind feet and peels the bark. The direction a herd is moving 
may be ascertained by one familiar with their habits since the 
bushes browsed are pulled toward the animal. The fir trees 
are browsed but the bark is not. eaten, yet hunters state that 
young firs suffer more than other species from the habit of the 
males of rubbing their heads upon them in such a way as to 
apply the balsam to the abraded skin about thehorns. It would 
be acurious and instructive fact, if substantiated, if instinct 
teaches the animal the curative properties of the balsam of fir 
