224 THE AMERICAN MOOSE 



they will not destroy the timber. Their favorite 

 food is taken from trees belonging to species which 

 are never marketable. And the moose peels the 

 bark from only one side of a tree: he never girdles a 

 tree as he eats his breakfast. He consumes little 

 of the forage on which the whitetail subsists, and 

 still less of the moss and other things which sup- 

 port the caribou. The three species of deer live 

 in harmony in the same woodland home, practically 

 ignoring each others' existence. If a given area 

 of mixed woodland and barren is fairly well stocked 

 with a certain number of moose, a large number 

 of caribou may be introduced without the game of 

 either species suffering from lack of food. If then a 

 further addition is made of one Virginia deer for 

 every moose in the tract in question, the effect on 

 the forage supply for the three varieties of deer 

 will be slight — for they eat comparatively few 

 things in common. While this territory is thus 

 harboring and feeding large numbers of game ani- 

 mals there will still be no material impairment 

 in the value of the stand of timber. 



In the state forests of East Prussia, and to a 

 limited extent in the forests of Russia and Scandi- 

 navia, underbrush is kept trimmed out, and 

 wood-eating animals, such as the elk or moose, 

 are forced to resort to the plantations of young 



