320 REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



shed their horns. Both can be easily tamed. They possess great strength of 

 hoof so as to strike a wolf dead at a blow. The flesh either fresh or salted, 

 is very nutritious, their hoofs cure the falling sickness. 



"But no game is more abundant here than deer, which browse everywhere in 

 large herds. When flying before wolves or hunters they oft times head towards 

 streams, betake themselves to the water, where they are taken in great numbers, 

 forwhilst across they get frightened by the echo from the mountains raised by 

 the hunters on the opposite bank; they dare not, consequently, approach land — 

 meanwhile the hunters tie branches together, by which the deer after being chased 

 are sometimes draped down."*' 



*&& v 



15 ear. 



Among the larger animals the bear is, perhaps, in point of popular imagination, 

 the most important animal in the North Woods. The variety found there differs 

 in no respect from the widespread type species (Ursus americanus) which extends 

 from Quebec to Georgia and westward to the Mississippi. At the borders of this 

 range it is supplanted by closely allied subspecies, into which it merges by 

 imperceptible degrees. 



There is no reason whatever why the bear should not be permanently protected 

 in the Adirondacks and allowed to regain something of its former abundance. 

 A step in this direction was made last year (1904) by the enactment of a law 

 prohibiting for three months of the year the killing of this interesting animal. 

 Legislation of this sort is at present a novelty, but protection will ultimately be 

 extended during proper seasons to all animals not known to be noxious. The 

 black bear is an absolutely harmless animal, feeding on berries, nuts and grubs, 

 and only occasionally dining on flesh. In fact there is very little game that the 

 bear is active enough to catch. 



As a feature of curiosity to visitors any live bear is worth to the State many 

 times the value of its fur, and if it were protected throughout the year and freed 

 from the annoyance of dogs there is no reason why the North Woods should not 

 resemble the Yellowstone National Park, where not only the black bear but even 

 the once dreaded grizzly now form most interesting exhibits. They can be 

 seen daily in numbers near the large hotels in the Park, feeding on the hotel 

 refuse. 



To accomplish such a result, however, it will be necessary to keep dogs out of 

 the woods, and no effort to restore game can be wholly successful unless this 

 is done. 



* The first paragraph evidently refers to panther and bear, the second paragraph probably refers 

 to wapiti and possibly to caribou, and the third and fourth paragraphs clearly refer to moose and 

 Virginia deer. — M. G. 



