THE LARGER NORTH AMERICAN MAMMALS 



461 



removed and transported in its original form. 

 It is highly prized for food and as an article 

 of trade among the Eskimo and Indian hun- 

 ters, and figures as one of the chief delicacies 

 at their winter feasts. 



The Peary caribou lives in Ellesmere, Grin- 

 nell, and other of the northernmost Arctic 

 lands to beyond 83 degrees of north latitude, 

 where in places it is common. It appears to 

 thrive on moss, lichens, and other dwarf and 

 scanty Arctic vegetation, and holds its own 

 against the depredations of packs of the white 

 Arctic wolves. In these northern wilds, amid 

 the most intense cold, the caribou passes from 

 three to five months of continuous night, its 

 wanderings lighted only by the moon, stars, 

 and the marvelous displays of waving northern 

 lights. 



Tame reindeer, which are kept by the people 

 of the Arctic border of the Old World from 

 Lapland to Bering Straits, are domesticated 

 descendants of the barren ground caribou of 

 that region. They are used by their owners to 

 pack burdens and haul sledges as well as to 

 supply them with food and clothing. These 

 animals have been successfully introduced in 

 Alaska, and both natives and white men are 

 developing this new and promising stock in- 

 dustry. The herds of tame reindeer are ex- 

 tremely gentle and easily handled. Their pro- 

 genitors were like other wild caribou — of a dull 

 and nearly uniform color — but domestication 

 has resulted, as with cattle, in producing end- 

 less color variations, from white to black, with 

 every imaginable piebald variation. 



The changed conditions of life in Alaska, 

 due to the recent development of that terri- 

 tory, have seriously affected the welfare of the 

 natives. Fortunately the introduction of rein- 

 deer herds appears to open a promising future 

 for both Eskimos and Indians. 



MOOSE (Alces americanus and its sub- 

 species) 



The American moose is a large cousin of the 

 elk of the northern forests of Europe and Si- 

 beria. The Old World animal is characterized 

 not only bv its smaller size, but also by smaller 

 antlers. The moose is a large, grotesquely 

 formed animal, with the most impressive in- 

 dividuality of any of our large game. Its great 

 head, .with oddly formed nose, huge palmated 

 antlers, pendulous bell under the neck, short 

 body, and disproportionately long legs unite to 

 lend the impression that it may be a strange 

 survivor from some remote geologic pericd. 



The moose inhabits our northern forests, 

 where it wanders among thickets of spruce, 

 tamarack, birch, aspen, and alder, from the 

 mouth of the Yukon and the lower Mackenzie 

 southward to Maine, northern- Minnesota, and 

 down the Rocky Mountains to Wyoming. It 

 varies in size in different parts of its range. 

 The bulls of the Kenai Peninsula and adjacent 

 region in Alaska are the largest of their kind 

 in the world, sometimes weighing more than 

 1,400 pounds. The enormous antlers of these 

 great northern beasts attain a spread of more 



than six feet and make the most impressive 

 trophy the big-game hunter can secure in 

 America. 



Although taller than an ordinary horse, 

 weighing more than half a ton, and adorned 

 with wide-spreading antlers, the bull moose 

 stalks with ghostly silence through thickset 

 forests, where man can scarcely move without 

 being betrayed by the loud crackling of dry 

 twigs. In summer it loves low-lying, swampy 

 forests interspersed with shallow lakes and 

 sluggish streams. In such places it often wades 

 up to its neck in a lake to feed on succulent 

 water plants, and when reaching to the bottom 

 becomes entirely submerged. These visits to 

 the water are sometimes by day, but usually by 

 night, especially during the season when the 

 calves are young and the horns of the bulls 

 are but partly grown. 



Late in the fall, with full-grown antlers, the 

 bulls wander through the forest looking for 

 their mates, at times uttering far-reaching calls 

 of defiance to all rivals, and occasionally clash- 

 ing their horns against the saplings in exuber- 

 ance of masterful vigor. Other bulls at times 

 accept the challenge and hasten to meet the 

 rival for a battle royal. At this season the 

 call of the cow moose also brings the nearest 

 bulls quickly to her side. Hunters take advan- 

 tage of this, and by imitating the call through 

 a birch-bark trumpet bring the most aggressive 

 bulls to their doom. 



Ordinarily moose are extremely shy, but dur- 

 ing the mating season the males become so bold 

 that when encountered at close range they have 

 been known furiously to charge a hunter. They 

 strike vicious blows with their front feet, as 

 well as with their heavy antlers, and make dan- 

 gerous foes for man or beast. 



Moose have disappeared from the Adiron- 

 dacks and have become scarce in many districts 

 where once plentiful. Through wise protec- 

 tion they are still numerous about the head of 

 Yellowstone Lake, and are still among the 

 available game animals of Maine and the east- 

 ern provinces of Canada. Indeed, during the 

 last few years they have steadily extended 

 their range in northern Ontario and British 

 Columbia. They occupy great areas of little- 

 visited wilderness, which are becoming more 

 and more accessible ; as a result the future ex- 

 istence of these superb animals depends upon 

 their receiving proper protection. 



AMERICAN BISON (Bison bison and its 



subspecies) 



The American bison, or buffalo, is a close 

 relative of the larger bison which once inhab- 

 ited Europe and survives in limited numbers in 

 certain game preserves of Poland and the Cau- 

 casus. The size, dark shaggy coat, great head, 

 and high arched shoulders of our bison give 

 them a unique individuality among American 

 big game. They once roamed in vast numbers 

 over a broad territory, extending from Great 

 Slave Lake, Canada, south to southern New 

 Mexico, and from Pennsylvania and eastern 

 Georgia to Arizona and northern Nevada. It 



