American Big Game in its Haunts 



tions of the country. In consequence of this 

 change of habit, it is difficult for a hunter, whose 

 experience is limited to Maine or the Maritime 

 Provinces, to appreciate how very shy and wary 

 a moose can be. 



In the upper Ottawa country, when they first be- 

 gan to be hunted by sportsmen, the writer remem- 

 bers landing from his canoe on the bank of a 

 small stream, and walking around a marsh a few 

 acres in extent to look at the moose tracks* Fresh 

 signs, made that morning, were everywhere in evi- 

 dence, and it had apparently been a favorite resort 

 all summer. Snow fell that night and remained 

 continuously on the ground for two weeks, when 

 the writer again passed by this swamp and found 

 that during the interval it had not been visited by 

 a single moose. The moccasin tracks had been 

 scented, and the moose had left the neighborhood. 

 A moose with a nose as sensitive as this would find 

 existence unendurable in New Brunswick or 

 Maine. 



I have already referred to the relative size of 

 the antlers of the moose from different localities, 

 and called attention to the inferiority of the heads 

 from the extreme east. Large heads have, how- 

 ever, come from this section, and even now one 

 hears of several heads being taken annually in 



384 



