FOREST AND STREAM. 

NAIMURRAL 
[APRIL 21, 1906. 
DISTORT 

The Deer of the Far North. 
Mr. R. McFArLANE, whose paper on the mam- 
mals of the Northwest Territory was referred to 
in Forest AND STREAM some weeks ago, devotes 
much space to a consideration of the game ani- 
mals of the Far North, among which the moose 
and two species of caribou are among the most 
important. Mr. McFarlane’s note on these spe- 
cies possess as much interest for the sportsmen 
as they do for the naturalist: 
Moose. 
Alces americanus (Clinton). 
This valuable food animal used to be very 
numerous on the Peace River, and, indeed, 
throughout the forest region of the northern por- 
tion of the “Great Mackenzie Basin”; but for 
the last twenty years it has been much less abun- 
dant, and, indeed, remarkably scarce in many 
parts, especially along the Athabasca, Peace, 
Liard and other rivers, and the larger lakes of 
the North. As moose have since been found more 
or less plentiful in the eastern, western and south- 
ern sections of territory where for many years 
previously they were rather rare, or conspicuous 
by their absence, it is now supposed by some 
observing natives and others that considerable 
numbers of them must have migrated southward, 
particularly during the remarkably mild winter 
of 1877-78. Be that as it may, it has been noticed 
that at intervals, and for several years at a time, 
this animal has been rather scarce in various sec- 
tions where it had formeriy been fairly abundant. 
It is easily scared, and no doubt much hunting 
ultimately succeeds in driving it away to distant 
and less accessible: retreats. 
Previous to the establishment of Fort Ander- 
son, in 1861, moose were frequently seen by us on 
our annual winter trade trips from Fort Good 
Hope to (the Eskimos of) Liverpool Bay, feed- 
ing along the high sloping banks of the Anderson 
River, but they soon after diminished in numbers, 
and had already become somewhat difficult to 
discover when the post was abandoned, in 1866. 
They are, however, to be found sparsely there to 
the very edge of the wooded country, especially 
in sheltered river valleys. Traces were observed 
by us near the Wilmot Horton River in the 
Barren Grounds, in about latitude 69° north and 
longitude 126° 30 west. I may also mention that 
on my way back from a visit made to Anderson 
River in July, 1860, I came across and traveled 
through a veritable moose preserve of some ex- 
tent, which lay between the usual hunting grounds 
ef the Loucheux of Peel River and the Hare 
Indians of Fort Good Hope. Several moose were 
seen and one shot, while traces of them were very 
numerous. It was also the resort of many black 
bears and woodland caribou. 
Again, for nearly a decade subsequent to. 1865 
(in that year Fort Nelson, which with all its in- 
mates had been utterly destroyed by the Indians 
in 1813, was re-established near its former site on 
the eastern branch of the Liard River), moose 
were much more abundant in the adjacent coun- 
try than they have ever been since. In the vicin- 
ity of farming and ranching settlements, however, 
they would seem to have become somewhat ac- 
customed to the not distant presence of man, as 
is surely evidenced by their comparative abund- 
ance still in the eastern sections of the Province 
of Manitoba (and elsewhere), although they have 
been much hunted’ there of late years. No doubt 
the close season and the due enforcement of the 
relatively restrictive killing law have been im- 
portant accounting factors for this state of affairs, 
which is so satisfactory not only to naturalists 
and sportsmen but also to other interested 
residents. 
During summer. when the weather is warm and 
mosquitoes very troublesome, moose resort for 
protection to the shores of lakes and streams, and 
while standing in the water they sometimes seem 
quite indifferent to the near presence of man, and 
will then retire only after being repeatedly fired 
at. I myself had proof of this on one occasion 
when ascending the Anderson River in the end’ 
of June, 1866. There were five or six in the party 
when we observed three full-grown moose in the 
water. As they were not in good condition we 
did net care to kill them, but, in order to test the 
truth of this peculiarity, I made the Indians fire 
a number of shots very close to them, but to no 
purpose. In fact, we had to scream and yell at 
them before they got out and stalked away at a 
very leisurely pace. 
According to a consensus of Indian reports 
from various quarters, the moose copulate an- 
nually during the months, or moons, of Septem- 
ber and October, and the offspring appear some 
nine months later. The female generally selects 
a dense thicket on a lake island or islet, or in a 
clump of trees on a dry spot in the midst of a 
marshy swamp or other submerged tract of forest, 
for the purpose of bringing forth her young, 
which are usually one or two, and occasionally, 
it is said, as many as three, in number. At birth 
the hair-covering is very short and of a dirty- 
yellowish color, the eyes are open and the new- 
comer is rather weak and helpless; but, after a 
comparatively short time, it is able to move about 
and scon becomes quite active. Suckling is sup- 
posed to continue for two or three months. When 
in good condition and stalked, the flesh of the 
moose is excellent eating and, on the whole, more 
tender and luscious than the venison of the red 
deer or either species of caribou; but animals 
killed after a long chase on snow, or during or 
after the rutting season, are far from palatable 
owing to a strong and very rank flavor then 
acquired. 
The skins are dressed by native women and 
the resulting smoked leather is made into tents 
or lodges, moccasins, tunics, shirts and trousers 
for winter and summer use by the resident popu- 
lation of the interior. Some skins are also cut 

up for pack cords and others turned into parch- 
ment for the requirements of the Hudson’s Bay 
Company and others. Hunters assert that herma- 
phrodites and barren females are sometimes met 
with, and that these imperfect examples almost 
invariably attain a larger size and heavier weight 
than their fertile kindred. Chief Trader H. I. 
Moberly, an experienced officer, hunter and 
woodsman, confirms the truth of this statement 
from his own personal observation. 
In his “Northwest Passage’ Dr. Armstrong’ 
mentions that Capt. Sir Robert McClure, one of 
a small party of explorers sent out in the spring 
of 1851 from Her Majesty's Franklin search- 
expedition ship Investigator, then wintering in 
Prince of Wales Strait, said that he saw three 
animals which he firmly believed to be moose in 
about latitude 71° north and longitude 114° west. 
I think this is the first and only record of this 
animal having been met with on the lands lying 
to the north of the American Continent. 
Chief Trader James Lockhart has recorded that 
“the moose down at Peel River and Fort Yukon 
are much larger than up this way [Great Slave 
Lake and Fort Simpson]. There, I have known 
two cases of extraordinary moose having been 
killed [probably one or both were obtained at Peel 
River], the meat alone of each of them weighing 
over 1,000 pounds. The Loucheux have a super- 
stition that the Indian who meets with one of 
these extraordinary large moose is sure to die 
within the year, or else meet with some grievous 
misfortune.” 
The above may belong to the gigantic species 
recently discovered on the western coast of 
Alaska. or they may be representatives of those 
referred to by Mr. Moberly. I have never met 
any of these monster moose, although, of course, 
I have seen examples weighing considerably over 
the general average. 
Woodland Caribou. 
Rangifer caribou (Gmelin). 
I do not think this species extends much beyond 
latitude 67° 30° north, except perhaps in spurs of 
BARREN GROUND CARIBOU, 
Thoto of group in the U. S. National Museum. 
