The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1877-04-06
Giants of the Woods.

calling, and the full of the moon is the
best time, as the bulls seldom come up
to call before sunset.
know of nothing more exciting than
to hear moose slowly approaching
through the woods; one is sometimes
kept on the tip-toe of expectation for
half an hour or even longer. The still
ness after sunset is so profound that his
slightest movement is distinctly audible.
The sportsman hardly dares to breathe,
and when at last the animal comes out
on the lake or opening within range it is
a grand moment, if happily he has not
delayed his coming till too late to be
seen. Moose walk at the rate of about
four miles an hour, even in woods so
thick that it is hard to understand how
they get their horns through. They carry
their heads high, noses we'll up, and horns
thrown back on their withers. When
disturbed they move in long, stumbling
trot, clearing every obstruction in their
stride; they never jump or gallop.
The Nova ScOtian Indians are the best
moose-callers in the world, and among
them the old men are better than the
younger ones. have never seen white
man who could call moose really we'll.
Sometimes moose answer to the call
much more readily than at others. I
once brought up young bull by tearing
piece of birch bark off tree to make a
horn; he heard the noise and came up, so
l had no further trouble. l have at
different times brought up moose from
distance, who came to my call unsus-
piciously, without needing any further
stimulus in the shape of low, half-sup-
pressed call which the more wary old
bulls sometimes need to bring them with
in shot. These low calls, made when
the moose is pausing, uncertain whether
to come or go, close to the caller yet not
within shot, require the greatest skill
false note and all is lost. / have at
times seen an old Indian trembling with
excitement, the small end of his horn to
his lips, and the other end on the ground
to deaden the sound-his face pulled up
with the volumes of wind he is pouring
into his horn, which produce low and
far-Off sounding series of grunts.
AS the haunts of the moose are in thick
forest, where it is impossible to see any
object at greater distance off than sixty
or seventy yards, and as their senses of
hearing and smelling are very acute, it
requires more skill and experience to
creep them in the fall than it does to hunt
any other animal in this country. The
Micmacs Of Nova Scotia are by far the
best moose hunters. The hunter would
seem to require two or three pairs of eyes
instead of one. He must steer clear of
rotten sticks, for to tread on one is ruin to
his hopes, and the ground is covered with
them. As he creeps along on fresh tracks
he must keep sharp lookout for the
animal, and at the same time watch the
wind and the browse. Unlike the cariboo,
who are always travelling about, feeding
as they go along, the moose, if not dis
turbed, chooses a locality Astounding with
their favorite brOwse-young maple and
moose woodland remain there for the
rest of the year, contracting their daily
rambles in search of food as the snow gets
deeper until at last the ''yard" is only
about an acre or two in extent. One
great difficulty in creeping moose is
whereas the tracks one is hunting are
going in one direction, the hunter cannot
be certain that the moose may not have
doubled round and got his wind; for this
reason the Indian, when we'll to leeward
of the yard, quarters his ground against
wind, much as a well-trained pointer
quarters stubble field.
When the wind is bowling through the
tree tops, and the trees are rustling and
grooming as they are swayed backward
and forward, let the hunter tread on a
rotten stick and the moose will at once
- Al n, l~n<
AGES OF ANIMALs.-A bear rarely ex-
ceeds twenty years; fox fourteen or SIX
teen lions live long. Pompey lived to
the age of seventy. The average of cats
is fifteen years; a squirrel and hare seven
or eight years, rabbits seven. Elephants
have been known to live to the great age
of four hundred years. A dog twenty.
Pigs have been known to live to the age
of thirty years; the rhinoceros to twenty.
A horse has been known to live to the
age of sixty-two, but averages twenty
FIVE or thirty.
Camels sometimes live to the age OF
one hundred. Stays are long lived. Cur
vier considers it probable that whales
sometimes live one thousand years. Ra-
vens frequently reach the age of one
hundred. An eagle died at Vienna at the
age of one hundred and four years
Swans have been known to live three hun
dred years. Mr.. Mallerton has the skel-
eton of swan that attained the age OF
two hundred. Pelicans are long lived.
A tortoise has been known to live to the
age of one hundred and seven.
A wEIL-DREssED beggar presented him
self at a bankers in Paris, who enjoyed a