The North American Cervidce. 139 



pened to be hungry, it would come trotting swiftly up to the house. 

 The boys who owned it rather complained because it would only 

 obey the summons when it wanted a drink of milk, and said that at 

 other times they were obliged to go down to the willows, and drive it 

 up before them. It had been caught only two months before, and so, 

 although it browsed to some extent on the undergrowth near the 

 water, it still depended for subsistence mainly on cow's milk. When 

 the pail containing this was placed on the ground, the moose had a 

 hard struggle to reach it. He would straddle the pail with his fore 

 legs, and thus bring his mouth to the level of the liquid. As this 

 sunk lower, his feet would gradually spread farther and farther 

 apart, until sometimes I would feel anxious lest he should split in 

 two, and it was always a question whether he would be able to 

 recover his upright position without accident, but he never seemed to 

 find the slightest difficulty in doing this by means of an awkward 

 bound, which brought his feet close together again. 



In the United States, moose are still found in small numbers in 

 northern Maine, but are apparently extinct in the Adirondack region 

 of New York, where they were once of frequent occurrence. In 

 Michigan and Wisconsin, a few probably still exist ; and they are 

 more numerous in the tamarack swamps of Minnesota. Proceeding 

 westward, no country adapted to this species is found until the main 

 range of the Rocky Mountains is reached. In western Montana, 

 northern Wyoming and Idaho, Washington, and portions of Oregon 

 they are moderately abundant, though less so than the other species 

 of Cervida found in this region. They are often killed, however ; but 

 the character of the country which they most affect is so difficult that 

 the hunter is likely to neglect the moose, preferring the less labor- 

 ious task of stalking the elk or the mule-deer, or even the leg-tiring 

 climb after mountain sheep. But, as the Western country settles up, 

 the fate of the moose there will be what it has been in New York 

 and other Eastern States, and this superb creature will be known 

 only in history. Its one hope of preservation from extinction lies in 

 the proper policing of the Yellowstone National Park and the pro- 

 tection of its game, and here, if proper steps are taken, it may be 

 preserved for all time. 



Since it is difficult or impossible for the moose to crop the grass 

 on level ground, a large portion of its food is arboreous. In the 



