THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
abandon their herds of females and dash away in search of fresh mates. 
I have seen a Scottish stag leave seventy hinds to go and fight and secure 
one or two hinds from another master stag, and he did not return to his 
first harem during that season, another stag taking his place. In deer 
nature, jealousy and the lust of battle are, I think, just as much a part of 
sexual desire as the wish to keep the prize already won, and in this respect 
moose seem to be no different from the other Cervidce. 
The bull-calf at this season is, as with other deer, tolerated by the adult 
male, but in the second season he takes his place with the “bei hirsch ” — 
at a respectful distance — by reason of the fact that the advent of personal 
desires places him in the position of a rival. In September these young 
two- and three -year -old bulls wander about alone or keep in some safe 
place close to the clang of battle. Sometimes they spar with one another 
as if to test their powers, like boys at school, and I once surprised two 
young bulls that were having almost a serious battle. 
In September the bull moose makes small hollows or soiling -pools — 
“ elk-pits ” they are called in Scandinavia — that is to say, he scoops out 
a depression in some muddy spot and plentifully sprinkles it with his 
own urine. These places have a very powerful odour, and when found the 
hunter must adopt the greatest care, for the deer seldom wander far from 
them at this season. In these pits the males roll and plaster themselves 
so that they, too, have a strong smell when killed. Both red deer and rein- 
deer (in a small degree), make these “pits,” but adopt a wider range from 
them at the rutting time. During the three weeks or so of the mating season 
the adult male does not eat, or if he does is supposed to chew only a few 
herbs that may or may not inflame his passions. By the middle or end of 
October, when the big fall of snow comes, the family party comes together 
again and unites in moving to some place, not far distant, where they may 
“ yard-up.” In old age both males and females seem disposed to wander 
about alone. 
At certain seasons moose indulge in the same game of romps that roe, 
fallow and red deer do, chasing each other in play through the forest in 
a game of follow-my-leader. Even old males do this. I do not think that 
the eyesight of the moose is much better than that of the reindeer, and the 
animal does not seem to rely much upon it for safety. In the woods the 
nose and ears are constantly working. When there is no wind moose can 
hear the smallest crush of the foot at a long distance, and seem to 
differentiate at once the clumsy break of a twig by man from that broken 
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