The Moose 253 



food. In the Rocky Mountains, where the forests 

 are almost purely evergreen, it feeds on such wil- 

 lows, alders, and aspens as it can find, and also, when 

 pressed by necessity, on balsam, fir, spruce, and very 

 young pine. It peels the bark between its hard pal- 

 ate and sharp lower teeth, to a height of seven or 

 eight feet ; these "peelings" form conspicuous moose 

 signs. It crops the juicy, budding twigs and stem- 

 tops to the same height ; and if the tree is too tall it 

 "rides" it, that is, straddles the slender trunk with 

 its forelegs, pushing it over and walking up it until 

 the desired branches are within reach. No beast is 

 more destructive to the young growth of a forest 

 than the moose. Where much persecuted it feeds 

 in the late evening, early morning, and by moon- 

 light. Where rarely disturbed it passes the day 

 much as cattle do, alternately resting and feeding 

 for two or three hours at a time. 



Young moose, when caught, are easily tamed, and 

 are very playful, delighting to gallop to and fro, 

 kicking, striking, butting, and occasionally making 

 grotesque faces. As they grow old they are apt 

 to become dangerous, and even their play takes the 

 form of a mock fight. Some lumbermen I knew on 

 the Aroostook, in Maine, once captured a young 

 moose, and put it in a pen of logs. A few days 

 later they captured another, somewhat smaller, and 

 put it in the same pen, thinking the first would be 

 grateful at having a companion. But if it was it 



