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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NOBLEST OF ALL WILD ANIMALS. The Largest of the Deer Family, Liv ing or Extinct—The Alaskan Bul 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 dee 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 ¢ £ long hair covered appendage known as the “bell,” and in the fall and winter he has also a pair of widespreading antlers, very heavy and much flattened or “plamated.” He stalks the forest through undergrowth and over fallen trunks like a king of giants, or, if alarmed, he speeds away at an amaz ingly 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 riv er, Wyoming. It is also found in northern Maine, New Brunswick, southern Canada, Idaho, British Colum bia, Alberta, Athabasca, Yukon and Alaska. It is strictly a dweller of the forest, seldom venturing to treeless plains. It lives for the most 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, strad dling them with his long legs and lit erally riding them down. He is fond est of birch, hemlock, alder, aspen, wil low and maple. He also eats mosses and lichens. In 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 black bear and fairly trample his body into the ground. The calf stays with its moth er for two or three years, or until he wanders off to seek a mate for him self. One day last summer I came sud denly 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 hur ried 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 and sharp about the 1st of Octo ber, the beginning of the breeding sea son. At this time of year the bulls are very savage and not only fight furious ly among themselves, but are apt to attack anything or anybody who comes in their way. The call of the bull is a long 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, exe cuted 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 within range they shoot him. But as this trick is usually played at night and as the bull sometimes never gives any warning of his coming until he is almost on the spot the sport is apt to be dangerous. The bull at such a time is in 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 be 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, and one pair from an animal shot on the Kenai peninsula has a spread of seventy-eight and a half inches and has thirty-four points. With the dry skull to which they are attached these antlers weigh ninety three and a quarter pounds, a weight which nothing but an animal of gigan tic 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 sec tion 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 dis turbed, they may stay for weeks to gether. 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 iho tries to run him down on snow shoes. 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 rule, it will live but a short time, even though it gets the same food which it had in its native woods. It may appear to relish its food, but it will grow to no great size and in a short time will probably die of inflammation of the stomach. This is one of the noblest wild ani mals in the world, and it should be glu e adequate protection throughout its range—Bangor Commercial.
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Jackson Amador Ledger
Jackson, California, US
Fri, Feb 17, 1905
Page 4
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Melissa S.
USA 02 Sep 2025
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