The Moose and the Caribou. 
35 
In Maine the moose are protected, except during a short 
open season extending from October 15th to December 1st, 
and even then the sportsman are limited to one bull moose 
apiece. Cows and the calves — that is moose less than a year 
old—are not to be killed at all. Similar laws, generally 
very stringent, exist in all States where moose are found, 
and also in all the Canadian Provinces. In South Dakota 
every fifth year, beginning with 1900, is to be a close-time 
for moose, and in other years the open season is limited 
to two months. New York and Vermont go so far as to 
absolutely prohibit the killing of moose at any time. It is 
said that, thanks to the enforcement of the game-laws in 
Maine, a visible increase in the number of moose has already 
been observed in that State in the past two years. Con¬ 
cerning the caribou, about which I shall speak later, similar 
laws have been passed. In Maine they are to be absolutely 
protected for six years from October 15th, 1899. In New¬ 
foundland they are protected for ten years from January, 
1896, and in Vermont they are never to be killed. 
In appearance the moose is a long, awkward animal, his 
huge head and broad nose, combined with a short, thick 
neck, giving him rather a grotesque look. His most dis¬ 
tinguishing feature, however, is his splendid pair of broad, 
palmate antlers, and happy is the hunter who can boast 
the possession of such a pair taken from an animal killed 
by himself. The antlers, which exist in the male only, fall 
off and are renewed every year, and the process of their 
development is a very curious one. During the first year 
of the animal’s existence there is only a slight protruberance 
or knob, as a horn, but with each succeeding year the 
number and size of the branches is increased, so that the 
age of the animal is plainly indicated; thus, an animal with 
fourteen prongs is fifteen years old. The old antlers fall 
off in February and the new ones begin to appear in March. 
They grow rapidly and soon begin to assume their regular 
form. While growing they are covered with a soft skin or 
“velvet” and are very hot, so fiercely does the blood cir- 
