38 



THE AMERICAN MOOSE 



In 1897 Government had fifty moose under 

 its protection *a the Yellowstone Park. In 191 2 

 these had increased to 550, according to official 

 reports. Hon. George Shiras, 3d, during a trip 

 in the Yellowstone Park in September and October, 

 19 10, counted four hundred moose, seeing twenty- 

 one feeding at one time in the south arm of Yellow- 

 stone Lake. "I *hink it can be safely said," he 

 wrote, "that there are 1500 moose living through- 

 out the year in the valley of the upper Yellow- 

 stone, an area two to five miles wide and twenty 



The moose's possible range is bounded on the 

 north, as it is on the mountain-sides, only by the 

 timber line. He is a creature of the forests — a 

 wood-eater," as the Indians called him — can 

 subsist on the food afforded by a wide variety of 

 trees, and loves the cold and thrives on it. The 

 Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, famous for fine antlers, 

 is in the latitude of southern Greenland. 



Moose have never been found in the country 

 between Hudson Bay and the Labrador coast, 

 nor in Newfoundland.^ But, from southwestern 



8 National Geographic Magazine, July, 1913. 



9 Several Canadian moose were released in Newfoundland a dozen 

 years ago, with a view to stocking the island. For several years they 

 were lost to sight, and were supposed to have perished, but it has lately 

 been reported that cows and calves have been seen, indicating possible 

 success of the experiment. 



