190 Moose -Hunting in Canada. 



ling of geese of a farm-house, in places where the animals must have 

 been constantly hearing men shouting, dogs barking, and all the 

 noises of a settlement. Their sense of hearing is developed in a 

 wonderful degree, and they appear to be possessed of some marvel- 

 ous power of discriminating between innocent sounds and noises 

 which indicate danger. On a windy day, when the forest is full of 

 noises, — trees cracking, branches snapping, and twigs breaking, — 

 the moose will take no notice of all these natural sounds ; but if a 

 man breaks a twig, or, treading on a dry stick, snaps it on the 

 ground, the moose will distinguish that sound from the hundred 

 voices of the storm, and be off in a second. 



Why it is that the moose has developed no peculiarity with 

 regard to his feet, adapting him especially to the country in which he 

 dwells, while the caribou that shares the woods and barrens with him 

 has done so in a remarkable degree, I will leave philosophers to 

 decide. In the caribou, the hoofs are very broad and round, and 

 split up very high, so that, when the animal treads upon the soft 

 surface of the snow, the hoofs spreading out form a natural kind of 

 snow-shoe and prevent its sinking deep. The frog becomes absorbed 

 toward winter, so that the whole weight of the animal rests upon the 

 hoof, the edges of which are as sharp as a knife, and give the animals 

 so secure a foothold that they can run without fear or danger on the 

 slippery surface of smooth glare ice. Now the moose, on the con- 

 trary, is about as awkward on the ice as a shod horse, and will not 

 venture out on the frozen surface of a lake if he can help it. His feet 

 are rather small and pointed, and allow him to sink and flounder 

 helplessly in the deep snows of midwinter and early spring. 



There are several ways in which the moose is hunted ; some 

 legitimate and some decidedly illegitimate. First of all there is 

 moose-calling, which to my mind is the most interesting of all wood- 

 land sports. It commences about the beginning of September, and 

 lasts for about six weeks, and consists in imitating the cry of the 

 female moose, and thereby calling up the male. This may sound 

 easy enough to do, especially as the bull at this season of the year 

 loses all his caution, or the greater part of it. But the pastime is 

 surrounded by so many difficulties, that it is really the most pre- 

 carious of all the methods of pursuing or endeavoring to outwit the 

 moose ; and it is at the same time the most exciting. I will endeavor 



