72 THE DEER FAiMILY 



killing off the big bulls, thus leaving the breeding to 

 be done by the smaller and weaker bulls ; and also to 

 inbreeding. 



" In Maine the moose originally abounded, but by 

 the middle of the last century they were so reduced 

 in numbers as to be almost a rare animal. Thanks to 

 very efficient game-laws, backed by an intelligent public 

 opinion, moose have greatly increased during the last 

 few years in Maine and also in New Brunswick. Their 

 habits have been modified, as we shall see later, but as 

 far as the numbers of moose and deer are concerned, 

 the protection of game in Maine has been a brilliant 

 example to the rest of the country. During the same 

 period, however, caribou have nearly vanished. 



" Moose were found by the settlers in New Hamp- 

 shire and Vermont, appearing occasionally, as mi- 

 grants onh% in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. 

 In the State of New York, the Catskills appear to have 

 been their extreme southern limit in the East; but they 

 disappeared from this district more than a century 

 ago. 



" In the Adirondacks, or the North Woods, as they 

 were formerly called, moose abounded among the 

 hard-wood ridges and lakes. This was the great hunt- 

 ing-country of the Six Nations. Here, too, many of 

 the Canadian Indians came for their winter supply 

 of moose-meat and hides. The rival tribes fought 

 over these hunting-grounds, much in the same manner 

 as the northern and southern Indians warred for the 

 control of Kentucky. 



" Going westward in the United States we find no 

 moose until we reach the northern peninsula of Michi- 



