Cries of the Day and Night 



It was a cry utterly unlike anything I had ever re- 

 corded up to that time, and every time they heard 

 it the grim beasts ran wildly here and there, 

 howling like lunatics^ Then, when the wounded 

 one grew quiet, they would approach and sniff him 

 all over; after which some would sit on their tails 

 and watch him closely, while others circled about 

 on the ice, using their noses like hounds in search 

 of a lost trail. 



Occasionally, when I have had these uncanny 

 brutes near me in the North, I have tried to call 

 them or make them answer by giving what seemed 

 to me a very good imitation of their cries; but 

 seldom has a howl of mine been returned. On 

 the contrary, the brutes almost always stop their 

 howling whenever I begin to talk wolf-talk, as if 

 they were listening and saying, "What under the 

 moon is that now?" Then old Tomah, the 

 Indian, comes out of his blanket and gives a howl 

 exactly like mine, but with something in it which 

 I cannot fathom or master, and instantly from the 

 snow-filled woods comes back the wild wolf 

 answer. 



Likewise, I have called moose in many different 

 localities, and am persuaded that it makes very 

 little difference what kind of whine or grunt or 

 bellow you utter, since anything resembling a 

 moose-call will do the trick if you know how to 



[27] 



