FOREST AND STREAM 
For Forest and Stream. 
THE MEGALLOWAY. 
M URMURING through the forest’s glades, 
And in its cool recesses, 
Singing through the tall reed blades, 
O’er moss and water-cresses; 
Where the flickering shadows play 
Runs the swift Megalloway. 
Down the rugged mountain side 
Beneath the long-limbed beeches, 
Where ferns bend o’er its foaming tide, 
And sun light never reaches; 
Flecked with spots of snowy spray 
Leaps the bright Megalloway. 
O’er shattered trees and river rocks 
The restless water dashes, 
Where, from the tumult of the shocks, 
The snowy mist-cloud flashes; 
Ever onward to the fray 
Roars the fierce Megalloway. 
’Mid unsown fields of tall wild rice, 
And beds of tangled rushes, 
Where in the fall the sweet swamp spice 
In crimson beauty blushes; 
While on it’s waves the sun beams play 
Sleeps the calm Megalloway. W. A. 
For Forest and Stream. 
THE HUNTER NATURALIST. 
NUMBER TWO—THE MOOSE. 
H AYING- in a previous article given tlie scientific diag¬ 
nosis of the alee (Hamilton, Smith, and Jardine), in 
this will be delineated its peculiarities and habits. Moose 
are the largest living members of the deer family; a mature 
male standing higher than the average horse, measuring 
from seventeen to eighteen hands, and often weighing over 
a thousand pounds. The males are considerably larger 
than the females. Their color is quite variable, depending 
upon season and climate, some being of an ashy gray, 
others of a darker grey, and a few in the autumn a glossy 
black. The extremities of their hairs are usually brown or 
black, and toward the centre and roots dingy white.' 
I have seen in the wilds of Nova Scotia moose with 
sparkling grizzly coats in September. The young are of a 
quakerish brown color, which grows darker with age. The 
hair is exceedingly coarse and strong, and somewhat brittle. 
That it breaks when bent is not true, since the squaws color 
and use it in their ornamental work. With the advance of 
winter the coats assume a darker hue, and the hairs grow 
longer and thicker. The necks of the males are surmounted 
with a mane of stiff hairs, varying in length from five to 
ten inches, which, when the animals are enraged, bristle 
up like the mane of a lion. Two fleshy appendages—dew¬ 
laps of loose skins—hang from the throat, and are covered 
with long black hairs. The tail is very short, so short that 
Tlioreau, in an examination of a moose in the Maine 
woods, overlooked it altogether. The most striking pecu¬ 
liarities of these animals are enormous lengtn of legs, 
head, and ears, short and thick body, small eyes, immense 
nostrils, and an elongated, thick, ponderous, and flexible 
upper iip. And this lip is so peculiarly and curiously con¬ 
structed as to warrant a full and particular description of 
its formation and use. Some writer has aptly described it 
as “of a size between the lip of the horse and that of the 
tapir.” It is square in shape and furrowed in the middle, 
appearing divided. The varied and rapid movements of 
this heavy protruding muscular development are due to 
four pairs of strong muscles arising from the maxillaries. 
This seemingly awkward and misshapen organ is not trace¬ 
able to any freak of nature, but is thus purposely formed, 
These peculiarities, that some denominate inelegancies of 
form, but which declare afresh the beautiful law of God, 
everywhere present in organized beings particular adapta¬ 
tion to circumstances. These animals, when view T ed in the 
light of this law, are symmetrical in proportion and grace¬ 
ful in appearance. The feet of the moose, though pecu¬ 
liarly developed, cannot - be termed awkward or clumsy 
after close examination. The hind hoofs are perfectly 
formed, and so well proportioned as to make a beautiful 
foot; long, slender, convex, and tapering. The horny 
points or spurs, and not the hoofs, make the clattering 
sound when the animal is in motion. The fore feet are 
flatter, somewhat shorter, and less tapering than the hind 
feet, and are, we think, more common and unattractive. 
The feet of the moose are very different from those of the 
caribou (Rangifer, Hamilton Smith), the hoofs of the lat¬ 
ter being much shorter, wider, more covered, and not so 
pointed at the toes. The hunter can, after seeing the 
tracks of these different animals a few times, distinguish 
one from the other at a glance. The feet of the moose are 
susceptible of greater expansion than those of the caribou. 
I have found the average size of the mature alee foot to be 
about seven inches from the heel to the toes, four inches 
across the widest point on the concave side when the foot 
is closed, and about three quarters of an inch across the 
points of the toes. The hoofs may be spread until the 
toes are four inches apart. I have, however, found tracks 
in very marshy places measuring from back of the horny 
points to the extreme tips of the toes ten inches, and across 
the widest point on the concave side of the foot six inches. 
In the foot of the moose we have another, illustration of 
special adaption. These animals live during the summer 
Months in immense swamps, where, if the hoofs did not 
expand to bear them up, they would often sink so deep in 
the mire as not to be able to extricate themselves, and when 
pursued their progress would be so retarded as to cause 
them to fall an easy prey to their enemies. This also en¬ 
ables these animals the better to travel in the deep snows of 
winter, and at all times to leave less of a trail for the cun¬ 
ning Indian hunter than these heavy beasts would were 
their feet otherwise formed. The legs of the moose are 
without the metatarsal gland so characteristic of the genus 
cervus group. The peculiar lip, long legs, and short neck 
have direct reference to the uncommon mode of life of 
these animals. They live only in forests, and subsist alone 
by browsing, since in the wild state they never graze. They 
will trail meadows of wild grass without feeding, but when 
tamed they eat grass. Moose are constructed for the woods, 
and not for the pasture. Their long fore legs enable them 
to reach far up into birch and maple trees to secure the 
tender and nutritious branches, and who will say that these 
are not wisely formed, since without them they could not 
so well feed on the side of deep acclivities where the 
moosewood and the willow trees grow in great abundance? 
And by these giraffe-like legs they are also enabled to ob¬ 
tain foliage out of reach by riding down young trees. And 
the lip is used as a hand in seizing, tearing off, and gather¬ 
ing the twigs and leaves of trees and carrying them to the 
mouth. The teeth of the moose have one peculiarity not 
common to the ruminants. In the molar tooth appears a 
fine illustration of what naturalists call intentional struc¬ 
ture. That it was formed by an intelligent Creator for a 
specific work in this animal is evident. It could hot seem¬ 
ingly have been brought about by natural selection. The 
remarkable modification of the crown of the molar tooth 
in the moose, deep cleft, and the enamel surrounding the 
cutting edges unusually hard and sharp, must have been 
formed to enable the animal to masticate the dry, coarse 
branches and bark of trees upon which it subsists from 
necessity in winter and through choice at other seasons of 
the year. Much of the noble appearance of the bull moose 
in his native haunts is due to his horns. In the spring 
time, when void of these weapons of war and articles of 
ornament, he is as changed as the peacock without his tail 
of beauty and glory. The female moose, on account of 
having no horns, never strikes one as remarkable. The 
antlers of the moose vary much in size and shape in the 
Same adult animal every year. As a rule, the heaviest and 
most perfectly developed are grown in seasons most favor¬ 
able to vegetation. The abundance or scarcity of food, 
rather than other causes, determines their form and weight. 
The young bull moose grows two knobs, of from one to 
two inches long, the first season. These are not cast in the 
fall of the first or second year. ‘When a year old these 
knobs are developed into spike horns, varying from five to 
eight inches in length, and remain on the head until the 
following April or May, when they drop off, and are re¬ 
placed by long cylindrical or forked horns; in the fourth 
year they begin to branch forward and become palmated; 
in the fifth and sixth years they grow in a triangular form, 
the palmated portions ending in from five to eight points 
or fingers,* the whole resembling an expanded hand. The 
moose produces the most perfectly developed antlers after 
the fifth year, the horns of a mature animal often measur¬ 
ing from the root to the extremity, following the curve, four 
and five feet across from tip to tip, and the palm on the 
widest surface sixteen inches. They cast their horns annu¬ 
ally after the second year during the months of December 
and January, and so prodigious is the growth that by the 
following August they are furnished with a new and com¬ 
plete set. During the summer months these are covered 
with what hunters call velvet. During the velvet state the 
horns arc so tender as to bleed freely when cut, and may 
like vegetables, be sliced with a knife. They begin to hard¬ 
en in the month of August, and I have seen two of these 
animals in the latter part of this month (August) with 
peeled and ripe horns. Usually, however, it is in the 
month of September that this velvet peels off and leaves 
the antlers hard. This covering is as thick as the hide of 
the moose. In August the velvet splits into narrow pieces, 
and oftentimes the antlers are seen draped with ribbons. 
Only the males have horns, yet I have been told of three 
cows killed bearing small antlers. This is not impossible, 
since female deer (G. Virginianus ) have been known to 
bear horns. 
Below are the dimensions of a pair of horns of an unu¬ 
sually large moose, killed in Nova Scotia, and measured by 
the writer. The branches of this pair of antlers differed 
very much, as much as if grown by sep.uute animals. One 
had two distinct palms; the first was seven inches from the 
base, with four well developed fingers, varying from six to 
eight inches in length. This palm, at the widest part, was 
seven inches across, and from the root to the extreme point 
of the first palm, not following the curve, but passing over 
the centre, eighteen inches.The second palm measured 
from the second point of the branching of the two, follow¬ 
ing the centre to the extreme finger, thirty-two inches. The 
first finger on this palm was fourteen inches long, the sec¬ 
ond seven inches, the third four inches, the fourth and the 
last four two inches. This palm was at the widest point 
fourteen inches across. The other half of the antler had 
but one palm, which was in everyway inferior to either 
palms of the other antler, the wrist or arm extending from 
the base to where the first palm was on the other half. 
Here it forked into two fingers of ten inches in length each. 
The wrist was about eight inches to the palmated portion 
and from the end of the wrist to the extreme point of the 
palm thirty-one inches, upon which were but five fingers 
This only measured at the widest part nine inches. The 
first fingers of this pair of antlers were forty-eight inches 
apart, and the extreme tips forty inches. The antlers 
weighed sixty and a half pounds. 
It is now conceded by all naturalists that the horns of 
the deer family furnish no clue to their age. Of course 
the horns of very old moose can be readily distinguished 
from young animals in their prime. On old moose, as a 
rule, they are contorted, ill-shapen, and have a bleached 
appearance, with the tips or fingers but partially devel¬ 
oped around the outer edge of the palms- The reason that 
no correspondence exists between the number of prongs or 
horns of deer and their age is that they are the distinct 
product of one year. In the ox kind ( Bos taunts ), which do 
not cast their horns, but have an annual ringlet after three 
years up to the ninth year, the age is readily determined. 
The period of gestation with the moose is about nine 
months. They bring forth about the middle of May one 
calf the first and second years, and afterwards two at a 
birth. Very old cows become barren. With the mother 
the summer is a season of retirement. She goes alone to 
the wildest, unfrequented, moss covered swamps of the 
forest, and never leaves them until the month of Septem¬ 
ber, when she comes forth to select a companion. No 
doubt but that she withdraws to these deep recesses near 
lakes to protect her young from carniverous animals and 
the bull moose. The calves continue to follow the mothei 
long after she ceases to feed them. It is probable that in 
many cases they keep with her until they are two or three 
years old. I have on more than one occasion trailed for 
two or three days a cow moose accompanied by a calf and 
yearling. My guide says that many winters ago he found 
in moose yards, at two different times, cows with a two 
year old yearling and calf. Although the male moose re¬ 
sorts during the summer months to morasses and low situ¬ 
ations, they keep separate from the females. 
The moose is a timid, retiring animal, which delights in 
evergreens, moisture, and perpetual silence, scrupulously 
avoiding the society of all other animals. In old age the 
moose becomes sullen and morose. Separating from its 
kind, it dies alone in the solitude. 
I was surprised to find that while the caribou (Rangifer 
IT. Smith) is found inhabiting many of the districts with 
the moose, that its feeding and tramping grounds are sepa¬ 
rate. It trails and feeds around moose habitations without 
encroaching upon their territory. 
Moose suffer quite as much from hot "weather as do our 
domestic cattle. During the hot season they remain quiet 
in the vicinity of lakes, feeding on aquatic plants, stand¬ 
ing much of the time in water, where they will remain for 
hours immersed with nothing but their noses above the sur¬ 
face. This they do. to cool themselves, to escape from 
black flies and mosquitoes, and especially to rid themselves 
of two large breeze flies (their special enemies), one grey 
and speckled, termed moose fly, since they are especially 
fond of these animals. They also frequent the margins of 
lakes and streams to feed upon the roots, stalks, and leaves 
of the yellow lily. Their habit of reaching under water, 
so as to feed on the roots of these water plants, gave rise 
to the Indian belief that the moose possessed the power of 
remaining under water the wTiole day. That they entirely 
disappear from view when thus feeding is "well established, 
but that they can live under "water for any length of time 
is only credited by Indians. They are strong and rapid 
swimmers, and have been known to cross a distance of two 
miles from one shore to another. Neither do these animals 
thrive well in severe cold weather. We are inclined to 
think that they suffer much during hard winters. Of one 
thing we are certain, that with the approach' of winter they 
commence to feed on the southern slopes of heavily -wooded 
ridges that descend to fir thickets, that they may find cover 
in extremely cold days. That they are found inhabiting 
the northern portions of the two continents would seem to 
contradict this opinion. This would be true were we not 
speaking of the extreme cold weather common to the most 
northern latitudes. We have the authority of Nellsson, the 
Swedish naturalist that the elk cannot endure so cold a cli¬ 
mate as the stag. The moose on the 1st of September, the 
beginning of the rutting season, commence to “travel up, 
as the Indians term it, and in a few days work out of the 
bogs and marshes and appear on the higher lands of the 
forest. During this period—September and October--tbo 
bull moose drinks and feeds but little for days at a time. 
He stalks the forest a proud, haughty, defiant monarch, 
conscious of his strength and beauty, with horns strippe 
of the last ribbon of deciduous skin, and polished by con 
stant rubbing against the liacmatack, and with immense 
round powerful neck, and in the finest bodily vigor an 
condition. He goes forth to assert his demands among his 
rivals. He is no longer timorous and shy, but bold, de 
ant, and dangerous. His -weapons are his horns and hoo s, 
and few animals can use the latter to better advantage. _ 
is reported that the animal can with a single blow of 11& 
hoof kill a wolf. During this season he has been known 
to rush at a man with intent to kill. A moose huntei o 
the Mirimichi River, New Brunswick, told me that 
hunting some twenty years ago he wounded slightly a 
moose, which he trailed over a mountain, and unexpec e 
