138 CANADIAN NIGHTS 



such a definition is utterly absurd. A moose does 

 not travel straight on when he is in search of food, 

 but selects a particular locality, and remains there 

 as long as the supply of provisions holds out ; 

 and that place is called a yard. 



Sometimes a solitary moose " yards " alone, 

 sometimes tv^o or three together, occasionally as 

 many as half a dozen may be found congregated 

 in one place. When a man says he has found a 

 " moose-yard," he means that he has come across 

 a place where it is evident from the tracks crossing 

 and recrossing and intersecting each other in all 

 directions, and from the signs of browsing on the 

 trees, that one or more moose have settled down 

 to feed for the winter. Having once selected a 

 place or " yard," the moose will remain there till 

 the following summer if the food holds out, and 

 they are not disturbed by man. If forced to leave 

 their " yard," they will travel a long distance — 

 twenty or thirty miles — before choosing another 

 feeding-ground. After the rutting season moose 

 wander about in an uneasy state of mind for three 

 weeks or so, and are not all settled down till the 

 beginning of November. 



In " creeping," therefore, or stalking moose, the 

 first thing to be done is to find a moose-yard. 



