Lake Umbagog
1907.
  All the others continue to be found about or at no great
distance from, the lake. Among them are the gigantic 
Moose, the graceful Deer, the surly Black Bear, the wise
Beaver, the wary Otter, the sly Red Fox, the inscrutable
Raccoon, the restless Fisher, the spruce-loving Sable,
the nervous Mink, the bloodthirsty Weasels, the thick-witted
Porcupine, the stolid Woodchuck, the slow-paced Skunk and
the near-sighted, preoccupied Muskrat.
  When the first white settlers reached the lake in
1823 and 1824 they found Moose abundant but Deer
exceedingly scarce in its bordering forests. The Indians asserted
that those conditions had existed as far back as their
traditions went. There was not then, nor ever had been, any
protection for any kind of game at any season and the
inexorable law of the forest was that the fittest and they
only should survive. In March when the snow was deep
and heavily-crusted the Deer had little chance of escape
from the Wolves and from equally merciless human enemies.
Hence they largely managed to maintain a precarious foothold in
the very smallest numbers. But the sturdy, long-legged Moose
could run for days in succession through snow five or six
feet in depth and even when overtaken and brought to bay
they were probably quite able to defend themselves against the
Wolves while they were not easily slain by the primitive
weapons of the Indians. But they did not last long after
the white hunters got among them. Most of them were
killed before 1850 and by 1870 they had become so
rare that came their tracks were seldom seen. They began
to reappear about ten or fifteen years later and they are
now of not uncommon and regular occurrence especially
at the northern end of the lake and along the wooded
Mammals