THE NATURALIST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2674, 14 June 1905, Page 68

THE NATURALIST.

The Giant Deer. — Characteristics of tho Moose. —

Now and then, in wanderings through the mountain and forest of Northern America, one comes upon a gigantic blackish brown deer which, by reason of the great length of its yellowish grey 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 appenCtnge 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 amazingly swift trot, and with a crashing that 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, Wyoming. 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. ll 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, straddling them with his, long legs, and literally riding them down. He is fondest of birch, hemlock, alder, aspen, willow, 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-coloured 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 mother for (wo or three years, or until he wanders off to seek a mate for himself. One day last summer I came suddenly upon a cowmoose 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, and 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 long-drawn bawl, with several loud grunts at the- end. If there is a cow within hearing she vill answer with a low cry, and the bull vill 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 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 siich 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 7ft high at the shoulders, and the length of its head and body together was 9ft 7in The Alaskan moose 'have the largest antlers, and one pair from an animal shot on the Kenai Peninsula has a spread of 78iin, and has 34points. With the dry skull to which they are attached "the^e antlers weigh 93ilb, a weight which nothing but an animal of gigantic strength could carry at top speed over the roughest ground a.nd 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 for 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 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 c of the noblest wile] animals in the world, and it should be given adequate protection throughout its range.

Beaver Dams in Colorado. — A very interesting account of the work done of late years by beavers in damming the Slate River on an extensive scale in Gunnison County, Colorado, is given, with a number of photographic illustrations, by Mr E. R. Warren in the February issue of the Proceedings of the Washington Academy. In this district the Slate River is a clear- mountain stream, at an elevation of nearly 9000 ft. Several dams and a few "lodges" have hcon in existence for some years, but 'n 1902 some very extensive new work was noticed farther down stream. So large, indeed, was this work that, in order to arrive* at an estimate of its extent and general effects on the valley, it was necessary to resort to surveying With the exception of a couple of dams all the recont work is on the south side of the river, the land on the north side having been raised above high water mark and converted into a meadow — now covered with willows— by the labour of the beavers in past years. The lower dam- is 76ft in a straight line, but is curved twice, so that it is really larger ; it does not quit© reach the left bank, where there is a subsidiary abli<aue dani some distance do.wg ef about

20ft in length. The effect of these two clams is to maintain c!c-od water on the left side of the stream ; and they head up the water for more than a couple of hundred feet, thus forming a pool which is inhabited by a large colony of beavers. The second dam, which is about 350 ft from the. first in a straight line, is nearly 100 ft long, and extends right across the stream, which flows over the north end. It hoads up the water for a distance of nearly 500 ft. Some 200 ft above this dam is a large lodge, formed, in the usual manner, of mud and logs. Some 170 ft above this clam is a backwater, across which are two dams, one new and the other old, the former being about 20ft in length by Bft in width, and majrijy composed of mud. Other dams also occur in the neighbourhood. All the dams are constructed of willow, although farther up stream the beavers have used spruce brought down from the mountains by avalanches. The author of the paper finds it difficult to assign an object for this extensive damming of the stream, especially as there are only three lodges in the district. It is suggested. however, that the main idea was to affoid a large extent of deep water in which the beavers might swim in safety beneath the ice in winter; but this does not explain the nece-ssity for such a large flooded area, in which, with the exception of the ditches, there would not be much water of the required depth, although nearly all would be available for the numerous musk-rats of the district. Possibly the beavers had to work out the capacities of the valley by actual experience, and perhaps the shallow flooded areas are failures. It is satisfactory to learn that in Colorado beavers are protected by statute, and although the law may not be enforced so strictly as might be desirable, yet it is quite sufficient to deter people from molesting a colony so near a town as is the one on the Slate River. Accordingly we may hope to hear more of the engineering feats of these industrious rodents.