FORESTRY COMMISSIONER. 49 



of the Reserve and very few in the vicinity, but the numerous 

 lakes and the seclusion of the woods make it an admirable place 

 for a natural game and fish preserve. The lakes are well 

 stocked with fish trout in Burntside lake, and the woods abound 

 with deer, moose, bears and feathered game. These animals 

 seem to have little fear of man fish come to the surface near the 

 shores when bread crumbs and fragments of meat are thrown to 

 them the deer will flag you over a ridge and look back to see 

 what you are doing. I have stood face to face at short range 

 with a bull moose who shook his ears in stupid foolishness when 

 I tried to scare him away, and trotted off in an indifferent manner 

 when finally convinced that he should move. 



Bears are numerous and appear to be useful to the forest. 

 They, in common with the busy ant and other small creatures, 

 are very assiduous in the making of soil in the forest. The 

 insects first attack the dead wood and mine it through and 

 through, the bears follow and tear the old logs and stumps into 

 fragments in search for food. During the past summer probably 

 every rotten log in the Forest was, in this way, turned over, 

 broken up and scattered on the ground to decay more rapidly. 

 The bears are tame and might become friendly if encouraged. 

 I sat on a log one morning and talked to the largest and hand- 

 somest black fellow ever seen the bears here have the finest of 

 black furs and brown noses. He came pushing through the 

 brush not 30 paces away, but stopped short at my hail and with 

 head erect and big ears forward gazed in amazement at me. 

 Nothing disturbed him he would not scare he would neither 

 advance nor retreat, a veritable monarch of the forest, he felt 

 secure in his strength and still peaceably inclined stood on his 

 dignity. When I requested him to move on he put his head a 

 little on one side and with nose to the ground coolly snorted so 

 I came away from there, one eye ahead, the other on the bear, 

 who still stood his ground as long as I was in sight, head up, 

 big ears forward and a puzzled look on his face it was incom- 

 prehensible why I should hurry. 



