CREATURES OF THE WILDERNESS 223 



great Roman nose and broad antlers of a large 

 moose standing head on. In that dim light 

 I dared not risk a shot at the animal in that 

 position, but in a few minutes it turned and 

 gave me the chance of a broadside. I fired, 

 and the moose fell to the shot, but, although 

 it had a very fine head, and although my 

 licence allowed me to shoot four moose, this 

 one was the first and last I cared to kill by 

 such means ! " 



In spite of its great strength and stature, 

 the moose is said to leave a district when the 

 smaller white-tailed deer comes into it, while 

 the caribou, in its turn, retreats before the 

 moose. The latter statement bears the stamp 

 of probability, but it is not easy to believe 

 that an animal of such fighting weight as a 

 moose would give way before another much 

 smaller member of the same family. A deer 

 would not scale more than one-eighth the 

 weight of a moose. Yet we are asked to 

 believe the lighter animal capable of driving 

 the other before it. Facts, no doubt, are 

 facts, and it seems established that the same 

 district is not suited to both kinds. Yet 

 there may be some other explanation than that 

 commonly accepted. Is it, for instance, not 

 possible that there are periodical changes in 

 the vegetation, or other conditions, of a district 



