Moose - Hunting. T r e 



of Lake Superior, although they have existed in this region as far 

 north as the Albany River. In the North-west territories, they are 

 found as far as the Mackenzie River. A friend gave me the measure- 

 ments of a moose killed in Rupert's Land, which, if correct, would 

 go far to verify some of the old-time stories of the wondrous size 

 of the moose. In the United States, moose are still found in sufficient 

 numbers to warrant the belief that, by judicious protection, the 

 species might be perpetuated. They are quite abundant in Oregon, 

 Washington Territory, and the whole northern border of the United 

 States as far as the Lake of the Woods. They are still met with 

 occasionally in the northern part of Michigan, along the shores of 

 Lake Superior, and very rarely in northern Vermont and the Adi- 

 rondack region. They also inhabit the wooded region of the great 

 lakes and that lying thence westward to the Rocky Mountains. The 

 southernmost point at which they have been found in the West is 

 in Idaho, on the forks of the Snake River near the Three Tetons, 

 where several were seen and killed by members of the United States 

 Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. The present 

 southern limits of the moose on the Atlantic coast are the provinces 

 of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, in the Bay of Fundy. These 

 provinces are still his favorite haunts, and here in the present day 

 he is most accessible to the hunter. This is perhaps owing to the 

 infinite number of lakes and the prevalence of swampy, low-lying 

 woods and bogs, in which he loves to dwell.* 



The color of the American moose when in his prime is almost jet 

 black, becoming more or less streaked with brownish gray as the ani- 

 mal advances in years. The head is so large as to appear out of har- 

 mony with the other proportions of the body. The ears are upward 

 of one foot long, yellowish brown in color, and bordered with a nar- 

 row strip of a deeper shade, the inside lined with yellow hairs. Sur- 

 rounding the orbit of the eye the skin is destitute of hair, and is of a 

 pale flesh color ; the eye is a velvety brown, and soft in expression, 

 except when the animal is wounded or brought to bay, when it as- 

 sumes a lurid hue and a twinkling, savage expression. The flanks 



• I beg to acknowledge the kindness of Professor Baird, of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, Dr. Klliott Coues, U. S. A., and Professor Bell, of the Geological Survey of 

 Canada, in furnishing me with the latest information with regard to the geographical 

 distribution of the moose. 



