A CAPRICIOUS BEAST 71 



snow upon them, were crashing and breaking in every 

 direction. 



A bull-moose in a passion is not a pleasant fellow 

 to run against, as a lumber operator once discovered. 

 He was taking a gang of men into the woods and 

 jogging along a mile or so ahead of them, with an axe 

 on his shoulder. Hearing a slight noise he looked up, 

 and directly in front of him stood an angry bull. 

 Whether the red shirt the lumberman wore had any- 

 thing to do with the moose's anger I can't say ; but 

 whether it had or not, the bull made a vicious rush 

 for him, giving him barely time to dodge behind a 

 tree. This place of refuge, however, didn't seem to 

 satisfy the lumberman. The bull became so fierce 

 and determined in his attacks that the man decided 

 the top of the tree, and not the bottom, was the only 

 proper place. It required a little finessing to carry 

 out his decision, but he finally succeeded in climbing 

 beyond the reach of the bull who stood at the bottom 

 keeping a sharp eye lest his contemplated victim 

 should escape. He kept up his sentry work until the 

 lumberman's gang came along ; then, at the sight of 

 them, his buUship turned sullenly around and re- 

 treated into the woods. 



They are sometimes very hard to kill, and then 

 again are killed with more ease than a small deer. A 

 moose was hit at close range by a 40-82 ball, which 

 tore his liver and lungs into fragments, but off he 



