TRAITS AND HABITS OF THE MOOSE 87 



eludes the twigs, leaves, and occasionally the bark 

 of a variety of maples, including the striped maple 

 or moosewood. It includes also willow, birch, 

 alder, poplar, mountain ash, and witch hazel. 

 Moss and lichens too are on his menu, and in the 

 summer the stems, roots, and pads of lilies and 

 various other water plants. In the autumn and 

 winter young spruces and ground hemlock are 

 favored articles of diet, and the leaves and twigs 

 of other coniferous trees. Burnt land, with one 

 or two seasons' fresh growth of willows, is an 

 especially popular feeding ground. Like all mam- 

 mals, moose are fond of salt. 



In table manners the moose shows little of the 

 gentility of most of the deer. He of necessity 

 straddles like a giraffe to reach moss or other 

 browse which is close to the ground, and often 

 rears on his hind legs to reach attractive morsels 

 which cannot otherwise be nibbled from the 

 limbs of trees. He frequently "rides down" 

 saplings by walking over them, bringing the 

 tender twigs at the top within easy reach. In 

 good moose country hundreds of the smaller 

 deciduous trees will be seen which have been 

 "peeled," the moose by an upward movement 

 of the head stripping off the bark with his 

 chisel-like incisors. He peels only one side of 



