Aran, 21, 1894.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



838 



tree could not climb it. On describing what I had seen 

 on my arrival at camp, an Aroostook lumberman told us 

 it must have been a moose, describing the animal and 

 what he lived upon, and saying also thatthey were plenty 

 in the Maine woods and excellent beef. Of course we did 

 not believe the man, and laughed at what he termed his 

 "Yankee gas." This was the first sign of moose seen on 

 the Restigouche or in northern New Brunswick. 



The Indians, however, had a legend among them that 

 one hundred years before moose had been plenty, but 

 that all had been killed. Why they moved and why they 

 returned is a mystery so far unsolved. 



It appears that moose are not found east of the Great 

 Saguenay River and it is just possible the^forest growth 

 in this very large territory is unsuitable, the growth 

 being nearly all spruce, which I never saw touched by 

 the moose, although when pressed by hunger toward 

 spring they will strip the balsam fir. 



The grandest example of the wonderful power and 

 activity of the moose that I ever had was on the Upsil- 

 quitch River. I was paddling down it facing a strong 

 east wind when on rounding a turn I saw what I thought 

 was four horses wading up the stream a half mile below 

 us. At first I took them for a lumberman's tow team, 

 but not seeing the barge I could not think where the 

 horses came from. Directly the largest bull I ever saw 

 lowered his head, bringing the huge antlers into view. 

 My man reached over to uncase the repeater, but this I 

 would not permit, as I never killed unless the meat could ! 

 be utilized. 



As we drew close to them they stopped wading, looking 

 at us in wonder, and I actually paddled within ten feet 

 of the large bull and might have struck him with my 

 canoe-pole. In another instant they had the scent; one I 

 of them gave a peculiar snort; they seemed to jump into 

 the air with all four feet at once, then sprang for the 

 bank, about 30ft. away, the large bull leading, the two 



throwing the whitewoods— strong hardwoods 4 to 6in. 

 in diameter at the butt, 10 to 12ft. high, with numerous 

 branches— to right and left, bearing and breaking them 

 like pipe stems. You could hear the blows given to a 

 stouter bush than common when the antlers struck. His 

 hide was steaming, his eye fairly gleaming, as he 

 lowered his nose every minute, and when he came to the 

 big dry tree he hesitated only for an instant; with a slight 

 backward step he was in the air, over the top of the great 

 dry limbs and again on his course. I now said to my 

 Indian, "That fellow follow cow. Kill her sure when 

 cafch her." "Wogh, never catch him; hab him plenty;" 

 suctbi was my Indian's reasoning, and I think it correct. 



I never had a fight with a bull, although I have killed a 

 good many. I have had them turn on their track when 

 chased, coming back for fight if you choose. In such a 

 case discretion is best, as all you have to do is to move 

 aside behind a tree, killing the bull as he passes. If you 

 have a good dog the moose will soon come to bay, 

 tramping a battle ground under some wide-spreading 

 evergreen where the snow is shoaler. The cow runs until 

 exhausted, never turning. Few dogs will go near the 

 moose when thus prepared. A fine mastiff I once had 

 got a young bull thus cornered, and when I arrived the 

 dog seemed determined to go into close quarters, and 

 would not mind my calls. He circled around the moose 

 and thought by using the tree as a blind he could grab the 

 ham nearest to him. As he sprang from the tree the 

 moose struck with the hindfoot, missed the dog, but 

 struck the tree, peeling off its bark. The dog missed the 

 ham; his spring carried him under the moose, and he tried 

 to get clear by going through between his forefeet. Alas, 

 the moose caught him with both feet and cut him in two. 



I never yet met a hunter or Indian who ever saw a pair 

 of bulls fighting. If they strike at a man it is the forefeet 

 they use, although the hindfoot comes handy and it has 

 a long reach. My opinion is, if two large bulls came in 



A MAINE MOOSE HEAD. Spread of Antlers, 57 Inches. 



§m* &*g m & § m i 



THAT VANISHING MOOSE. 



I have read with great interest Mr. Madison Grant's 

 article on the moose in the January Century, which I 

 would like to supplement with some facts coming under 

 my own observation. A residence of 57 years in the 

 northern wilds of New Brunswick, 30 of them in the 

 lumber woods and 16 in charge of the Restigouche River 

 and its tributaries, to whose head- waters I made periodical 

 visits, gave me exceptional opportunities for observation. 



The face of this country, from Gaspe through the 

 peninsula in Quebec, away around the Metis and Rimou- 

 ski rivers, and around the head- waters of the St. John, 

 Tobique and Mirimichi, is all very much alike in con- 

 tour, the streams all interlocking, passing each other on 

 the divide, all — big and little — having lakes as their 

 sources. All the streams in the northerly portions are 

 banked by hills 400 to 900ft. high, many of them very 

 steep, brooks, ravines and gulches, entering the main 

 streams very frequently. The traveling, therefore, is 

 mostly up one hill and down another. So you can 

 judge of the impracticability of road making in such a 

 country. Notwithstanding the roughness of the country, 

 nearly all the larger streams are navigable by the lumber- 

 man, either by towing with horses or toting on the ice the 

 winter supplies. 



The original growth of wood on those hillsides was the 

 pine, spruce and cedar, the small level ridges producing 

 birch and maple. Within the last forty years many hun- 

 dreds of miles of those mountain sides have suffered from 

 the lumberman's fires, in stream-driving time, the smoke 

 often obscuring the sun for days at a time. On those 

 burned hills the new growth soon appears, unless the soil 

 is totally burned to the rock; if it is, the blueberry 

 soon grows up— a pasture for Bruin. If soil is left, the 

 aspen, white birch, moose and white woods come up so 

 thick as to stunt the growth of the individual trees. None 

 of the original wood ever grows again. So every fire 

 brings the lumberman nearer the end, now in sight. 



Now, this young wogd is the moose's paradise; it is ex- 

 actly his favorite food. From June to October they keep 

 as near the water as possible, not for feed alone, although 

 the water-lily is a great favorite, but the moose fly pest 

 drives them into the mud and water, along with the cari- 

 bou. In November and December, with perhaps a por- 

 tion of January, they range along the brows of the hills 

 and on the hardwood ridges, cropping the branches of 

 the rowan, birch and white wood, not yet peeling the 

 bark, but continually moving; generally the cow with 

 her two spring calves, perhaps with one or two bulls in 

 company. 



Just as soon as the snow gets about two feet deep a 

 move is made for the winter yard. Probably the moose 

 have some knowledge of where they are going, but the 

 place is never near the one where they have been feeding. 

 I have followed their trail for fifteen miles, and during 

 this tramp they will not feed or break a bush. In choos- 

 ing their yard they pick out a thick growth on the hill- 

 side, about half way from the bottom and facing the sun. 

 They need no water, the snow supplying that. The bulls 

 now part company from the cows and young. Often two 

 of them keep together, sometimes three. Why they 

 separate is as yet unknown. Indians say, "Bull kill em 

 calves." This is imagination, as the cow does not drop 

 her young until May. On this sidehill and among the 

 thick growth a small space will suffice for them, and they 

 break up hill, rearing up and trampling down the snow, 

 and peeling the bark from the saplings and every branch 

 an inch and a half in diameter. In spring one of those 

 yards looks like a chopping or clearing. Should the yard 

 be on a level, which sometimes occurs, they commence 

 breaking in a circle, extending it as needed. Some hun- 

 ters travel round on the ridges, among the early fall nooks, 

 fearing to tackle the snowshoeing on the steep sidehills, 

 thick growth and loose snow. Amateurs after a week or 

 two of tramping get astray and out of provisions, and 

 come home without meat or hide. 



There are laws in the Provinces (on paper only) for the 

 rotection of moose; officers are appointed who are paid 

 y half the penalties, on conviction of the offender, but 

 should the suit fail, the officer pays the expenses. The 

 officer cannot arrest but he may confiscate if he can; as 

 likely as not he never saw the men personally, is ignorant 

 of their names or perhaps of their residence. As for going 

 to search a lumber camp for moose meat, a game warden 

 knows better than to attempt this; the hides, if any, are 

 put out of the way and are sold when the season is open, 

 and a man who undertakes game wardenship must be 

 prepared to meet obstacles he little dreams of. 



But let us go back to our moose yard. In March when 

 the snow is crusted there is no chasing to be done. The 

 moose cannot leave the yard, and cows and yearlings can 

 be knocked on the head. I have seen a bull go for a mile 

 through six feet of snow — without crust on it — but the 

 'moment he sighted me he turned on his tracks for battle. 

 I never knew a cow to show fight, even to save her calf. 



One peculiarity in both moose and caribou is that they 

 can't believe their eyes. In going up or down our rivers 

 in canoes I have got within 20 or 30ft. of the moose on 

 the bank or in the water. It would stand there, head up 

 and nostrils dilated, but as soon as the scent was caught 

 the first move was a turn, then leap after leap, until he 

 or she was a quickly vanished moose. Of course, should 

 the animal be to leeward of you the vanishing would take 

 place before you came in sight. The caribou, although 

 keen of scent, does not seem to mind the advent of the 

 hunter. Like the moose, they will often run 50 or 100yds. 

 and then stop and look back. They do not fear the lum- 

 berman's works, but will poke around the fallen treetops, 

 selecting the moss from the dry branches, of which they 

 are peculiarly fond, having beaten paths through and 

 around. In such places they are often snared by the 

 lumbermen in a running noose. 



I well remember the first moose works I ever saw. 

 About 1840 I was hauling provisions from the river to our 

 lumber camp, in early winter, At a turn in the road I 

 saw a small-sized rowan tree heavily laden with its scarlet 

 berries. I noticed that the bark was torn off, and on ex- 

 amination found the tree all torn and furrowed. At that 

 time I had been four years out from Scotland, but had 

 never heard of the moose. As my team was moving along 

 the road I had no time for close examination, but could 

 think of no explanation except that a bear had been try- 

 ing to reaoh the berries and owing to the smalLaeas of the 



young cows and bull following. The ascent began at the 

 water's edge, and the hill was furrowed in places to the 

 bare rock by the snowslides in spring, with patches of 

 trees and bushes scattered over its surface, and was be- 

 tween 400 and 500ft. in height. Up this hill went those 

 four large animals, and for the first 100ft. they jumped 

 straight up its face. The large bull was the first to try 

 quartering, followed by the others, but they all passed 

 him before reaching the top. 



Myself and man were poling up one of our small 

 branches late in September. Just as we got in sight of 

 its forks we saw a cow moose deliberately walk over the 

 beach or spit at their junction. On»reaching this spit we 

 drew our canoe on the shingle and prepared lunch. We 

 just had the kettle boiling, when on the hill behind us, 

 covered with a dense growth of young wood, we heard 

 what resembled a large boulder tearing the bushes and 

 young trees on its way down the slope. At its foot the 

 wood was not quite so dense, and we saw a great moose 

 emerge from it. At one bound he was on the spit beside 

 us. Pausing for an instant he lowered his head. Never 

 looking at us or our fire he jumped over the canoe, crossed 

 the other branch and vanished. After crossing we could 

 trace his course by the sound of the bushes breaking when- 

 ever he lowered his head to follow the scent of the cow. 



The following year, in company with an Indian hunter, 

 I was cruising out a lumber berth in September. I had 

 climbed a large spruce to have a look around, and seeing 

 a ridge of pine on the border of a lake I called up the 

 Indian to see if he knew the locality. Just as he got to 

 my side we heard something coming toward us, which 

 turned out to be a cow moose. I thought her actions 

 were erratic, for she was traveling in a zig-zag course. 

 Close to us a large dry spruce had blown down, its great, 

 long, dry limbs extending outward and upward in all 

 directions. She did not care to go round it and it lay 

 well up from the ground, in which an inequality or hol- 

 low enabled her, by going on her knees, to go under. I 

 said to my Indian, "Moose crazy?" to which he replied, 

 "Maybe. See bye and bye." 



We had just begun to descend the tree when we beard 

 quite a thrashing, cracking noise drawing rapidly near, 

 and soon a splendid bull was in sight, following as 

 rapidly as possible exactly in the footsteps of the cow, 



contact with force they would tear the antlers from the 

 skull, as they are not bedded in the bone as in the domes- 

 tic bull. I also think they are really more horsey or mule- 

 like in their nature, particularly in the head and quarters. 

 The hoof is small for such an animal, sufficiently sharp 

 and hard to prevent slipping on clear ice. As for the 

 great chisel teeth and powerful jaws, should the moose 

 get a hold with them the piece would be torn out. I 

 therefore think that when fighting occurs it is much more 

 after the horse mode. 



Our northern moose do not reach the size of the Maine 

 or Upper Canadian. Few will weigh 7001bs. , in fact that 

 is a big moose in northern New Brunswick or Quebpc. 

 Moose have now been with us for fifty years, and for all 

 the slaughter done— often 200 in a winter killed for the 

 hide alone, by whites and Indians — they are still here and 

 fairly plenty, and I must say much more meat is now 

 brought to market than ever, and few hotels are without 

 a moose steak for the traveler if he wants it. One thing 

 is certain, if our law-makers would give them even half 

 protection they would not leave us again, and they are 

 much plentier now than they were ten years ago, the 

 lighter snows of late years, together with the thick growths 

 of young wood, saving many of their lives. 



John Mowat. 



Adirondack Deer. 



Utica, N. Y., April 12.— A. D. Barber, Frank R. Groves, 

 Frank M. Baker and E. A. Klock, of Honnedaga Lake, in 

 the Adirondacks, recently made a long trip into the 

 wilderness, mainly for the purpose of ascertaining how 

 the deer had wintered on the lands of the Adirondack 

 League Club. Starting from Forest Lodge, on Honnedaga 

 Lake, they went to Jones Lake, Indian River, Indian, Squaw 

 and Beaver lakes, and thence to Moose River, returning by 

 the way of Brook Trout Lake, the West Canada Lakes and 

 West Canada Creek. They found plenty of deer signs, but 

 no dead deer. They do not believe any of the animals 

 died of starvation. At one of the lumber camps they saw 

 a man who had been around the woods a great deal dur- 

 ing the winter and he had only seen the carcasses of two 

 deer, and those had been killed by dogs. The fish hatchery 

 at Honnedaga Lake is working well and some of the fry 

 have already been distributed, Portsa, 



