MOOSE HUNTING IN NOVA SCOTIA 121 



noises of the forest. The moose also displays astonishing intelli- 

 gence in his remarkable habit of making a loop of a half circle before 

 lying down, thus taking a position of the utmost advantage for 

 the detection of any pursuer following his trail. 



Many of the weaker animals of the North American forest in 

 winter approximate the whiteness of the snows. The caribou 

 does not disdain to wear this arctic livery, but the lordly moose 

 dons a more glossy black as the cold increases. The monarch of 

 the forest needs no disguise. 



Vast, indeed, are the domains of the moose. Frequenting by 

 choice low-lying swampy woods and river and lake basins, he 

 ascends the banks of the rivers of the North-West of America nearly 

 to the arctic circle, as far north, in fact, as his favourite browse 

 the willow saplings grow at their edges. In the forests which 

 fringe the shores of the Yukon, the Peace River, the Mackenzie ; 

 throughout that wild Alpine region which nurtures the infancy of 

 the Stickine, and in the wide, wooded belt which approaches the 

 low shores of the Arctic Ocean to the northward, and sends numerous 

 spurs of forest jutting out into the plains to the south, the moose 

 is everywhere abundant. He makes his home also in isolated patches 

 in the North-West territories, locally known as 'moose-woods'. 

 In the woodland districts of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, the 

 south side of the St. Lawrence, in the province of Quebec, and the 

 State of Maine, he still roams in sufficient numbers to afford the 

 chance of excellent sport during the brief hunting season. 



Not only will the immense range of the moose and the inaccessible 

 character of the regions into which he can retreat help to postpone 

 the extinction of his race, but it also contributes heavily to his chances 

 that he can sustain life by merely biting off the tips of any of the 

 more esculent shrubs and of almost any of the deciduous or 

 ' hardwood ' trees. Wise game regulations, and the practice of 

 setting aside public preserves, help to increase the numbers of moose 

 and other wild game throughout the Dominion of Canada. 



In conclusion, let it be said that the bringing back of a trophy 

 to adorn the smoking-room walls is not the only reward of a few 

 weeks in the open after big game. The relief of a period of free, 

 untrammelled life, for the time being independent of galling social 

 fetters ; the simple primitive pleasures of forest life in practically 

 primeval hunting grounds ; the constant lesson of that patient, 

 persistent effort which Nature ever puts forth even in the rugged 

 northern wilds, suggesting the ever-renewed struggle of humanity 

 itself against opposing odds, altogether afford a pleasing experience 

 which does not readily fade from the memory. 



