Jasper County Democrat, Volume 7, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 February 1905 — WAYS OF THE MOOSE [ARTICLE]

WAYS OF THE MOOSE

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NOBLEST OF ALL WILD ANIMALS. The Largest of the Deer Family, LlrInK or Kxtlnct-rThe Aluskan Bull Moose Have the Greatest Antlers. The Cow and Her Ungainly Calf.

Now and then in wanderings through the mountain and forest one comes up-

on a gigantic blackish brown deer which by reason of the great length of its yellowish gray legs stands higher than a tall horse. It is clothed in coarse, bristly hair, longest on the neck and shoulders, and it has a rather ugly overhanging nose which distinguishes it at once from all other kinds of deer. From the throat of the male hangs a long hair covered appendage known as the "bell,” and in the fall and winter he lias also a pair of widespreading antlers, very heavy and much flattened 6r “pinmated.” lie stalks the forest through undergrowth and over fallen trunks like n king of giants, or, if alarmed, he speeds away at an amazingly swift swinging trot and with a crashing which resembles the sound of falling trees. Such is the moose, the largest of all deer, living or extinct. The moose is chiefly an animal of the northern woods, the southern limit of its range being the head of Green river, Warning. It is also found in northern Maine, New Brunswick, southern Canada, Idaho, British Columbia, Alberta, Athabasca, Yukon and Alaska. It is strictly a dweller of the forest, seldom venturing to treeless plains. It lives for the mpst part by browsing on the leaves, twigs and bark of trees, particularly young trees. In order to reach the tops of tall saplings the moose rears up against them, straddling them with his long legs and literally riding them down. He is fondest of birch, hemlock, aider, aspen, willow and maple. He also eats mosses and lichens.

Iu May the “cow,” as the female moose is called, gives birth to a long legged, ungainly, tawny colored calf, to protect which the mother will fight any woodland creature to the death. She has no antlers, but she can use her great sharp hoofs with the skill of a prize fighter and has been known to pound to death a large blnck bear and fairly trample his body into the ground. The calf stays with its mother for two or three years, or until he wanders off to seek a mate for himself. One day last summer I came suddenly upon a cow moose standing knee deep in a shallow pond, while from beneath her neck her grotesque looking calf peered out at me with eyes wide open, as If with astonishment. I hurried home and returned with a camera, but when I reached the spot they were gone.

Like all American deer, the “bull” moose sheds and renews his antlers every year. They become full grown, hard afad sharp about the Ist of October, the beginning of the breeding season. At this time of year the bulls are very savage and not only fight furiously among themselves, but are apt to attack anything or anybody who comes in their way. The call of the bull is a loug drawn bawl with several loud grunts at the end. If there is a cow within hearing she will answer with a low cry, and the bull will come forward to meet her. Hunters often take advantage of this fact and attract the bull by an imitation of the call of the cow, executed on a cone shaped horn made of birch bark. Lying concealed on the bank of a lake or stream, they give out the call, and when the bull comes witliiu range they shoot him. But as this trick is usually played at night and as the hull sometimes never gives any warning of his coming until lie is almost on the spot the sport is apt to be dangerous. The bull at such a time Is iu no mood to be trifled with, and unless the hunter is cool headed and a good shot the moose is not only willing but very able to kill him and a dozen like him if they happen to he on the spot.

Probably the largest moose of which there is reliable record was shot by Carl Rungius, the animal painter, in New Brunswick in 1901. This great beast stood seven feet high at the shoulders, and the length of its head and body together was nine feet seven inches. The Alaskan moose have the largest antlers, aud one pair from an animal shot on the Ivenai peninsula has a spread of seventy-eight and a half Inches and hns thirty-four points. With the dry skull to which they are attached these antlers weigh ninetythree and a quarter pounds, a weight which nothing but an animal of gigantic strength could carry at top speed over the roughest ground and through thickly wooded country. In the winter, when the snow is deep, the moose, sometimes several families together, will gather In a certain section of woodland and be breaking out paths for themselves over a space of perhaps several acres from what is known as a “yard,” where, if not disturbed. they may stay for weeks together. But the moose is able to travel well at all seasons, and even in deep snow his long legs enable him to move at a pace which astonishes any hunter who tries to run him down on snowshoes. A wild, free life is the only one on which a moose can live and thrive. In captivity it is much less nervous than most deer and is disposed to be gentle and affectionate. But. as a nxle, it will live but a short time, even though it gets t 4% same food which it hail In Its native woods. It may appear to relish Its food, but It will grow to no great size and In a abort time will probably die of Inflammation of the stomach. This Is one of the noblest wild animals In the world, and It should be given adequate protection throughout Its range.—Bangor Commercial.