MOOSE-HUNTING IN CANADA 115 



" settled up." More and more land is cleared 

 and brought under cultivation every day ; more 

 and more forest cut down year by year ; and the 

 moose-supporting portion of the country is be- 

 coming very limited in extent. On the other 

 hand, the moose is an animal which could easily 

 be preserved if only reasonable laws could be 

 enforced. It adapts itself wonderfully to civilisa- 

 tion. A young moose will become as tame as a 

 domestic cow in a short time. Moose become 

 accustomed to the ordinary noises of a settled 

 country with such facility that they may some- 

 times be found feeding within a few hundred 

 yards of a road. A railway does not appear to 

 disturb them at all. I have shot moose within 

 sound of the barking of dogs and the cackling of 

 geese of a farmhouse, in places where the animals 

 must have been constantly hearing men shouting, 

 dogs barking, and all the noises of a settlement. 

 Their sense of hearing is developed in a wonderful 

 degree, and they appear to be possessed of some 

 marvellous power of discriminating between inno- 

 cent sounds and noises which indicate danger. 

 On a windy day, when the forest is full of noises 

 — trees cracking, branches snapping, and twigs 

 breaking — the moose will take no notice of all 



