io6 THE AMERICAN MOOSE 



rustle under the feet as dry ones will. Moose 

 lie down often for an hour or two, and always 

 lie down at midday. They are more watchful 

 when lying down than when traveling or feeding. 

 At midday, accordingly, especial watchfulness is 

 incumbent on the hunter. 



The track of a moose is like that of a domestic 

 cow, but larger, and somewhat more pointed. 

 The means by which the freshness of a track may 

 be determined are various. In this respect there 

 is no material difference between tracking moose 

 and tracking the smaller species of deer. It is 

 necessary to take notice of atmospheric condi- 

 tions. Aided by knowledge of a recent shower, 

 or flurry of snow, or the effect of freezing, one can 

 judge how much time has elapsed since the animal 

 which made the track passed that way. On bare 

 ground a track made two hours ago generally 

 looks very much like one that is only ten minutes 

 old, but this is not the case when hunting on snow. 

 Snow freshly turned up has a sparkle which is soon 

 lost by disintegration of the crystals at the surface. 

 The experienced tracker always seeks by a com- 

 prehensive view to see a long series of footprints at 

 once, and thus keep the general direction in which 

 they lead, rather than to waste time by looking in 

 succession at the individual footprints close at hand. 



