The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1893-09-09
HUNT FOR BABY MOOSE.
AN EXPEDITION AUTHORIZED
BY A LAW OF MAINE.

Z
BY A LAW OF MAINE.
The State Directed It's Taxidermfst to
Secure q Mother and Baby Moose for
the Worlds Fair-A Remarkable Cap
& ture-The Baby's Fate.
e "A COW moose and her calf were
Sordered for the great show; ordered
[Sby special act of the legislature of
Maine last \ winter. Taxidermist
clifford onlyewa empowered to secure
them. and he, selecting the grand
hunting. ground above, Skowhegan,
|sbut little known to the world at large,
|sbut well known to the Megantic fish
and game club OF Boston, filled the
[zbill to perfection, and secured, and
Fin q most peculiar and interesting
way, a COW moose and her perfect
Iscalf. .sz..:"
L History will not recall in any land
Ia more peculiar hunt than that one
|Eof Gifford's in behalf of Maine and
the great show in Chicago. ... J.
& The fish and game commissioners
think there are between $500 and
Is, 200 moose on Maine soil; about the
same number of caribou, while deer:
are so numerous now that any guide
had rather contract to give q patron
ten shots at ten deer than one shot
at one moose or one caribou. To
protect this game, Maine says that it
f shall cost 800 to shoot cow moose
or calf at any time, and that bull
Emoose, deer and caribou of both
I sexes shall be shot only in the last
three months of the year. The pen
/ atty for shooting deer in close sea-
/ son is $40, and as that sum is more
than the money value of any dead
/ deer, these animals get fairly good
protection save around certain lum-
/ ber camps in winter.
{. But up along the waters of the St.
John river dwell the St. Francis and
Tobique tribe of Indians, and yearly
| and unmolested they raid the moose
and caribou of Maine, killing the
! males as we'll as the females with
young, leaving tons of meat for the
porcupine, the fox, the weasel and
the hawk, taking away only the
| hides, which later form the network
| of snowshoes, Even did not timber
! land explorers find the meat and
| view the slaughter, the thousands of
! pairs of new suowshoes of moose and
caribou hide put upon the market
! leach season would tell Of the destrnc-
tive work Of these Indians which,
unchecked, will soon egive to the
moose the position in natural history
nov occupied by the American bison
"a nanfe, and a name only.
But Maine wanted a COW MOOSE
and calf, and wanted them in a legal
way, and therefore passed law al
lowing her to take the two speci-
mems OF her own property, This was
IN February, says the Boston Herald.
| 1t should be borne in mind that
the moose of Maine are in some re-
| spects like the reindeer of Green
land. They are so hot blooded that
! they give birth to their young upon
the snow or even upon the ice. In
the woods of Maine in early March
the ponds, lakes and rivers are
| sealed with three or more feet of ice
and at such times any man whose
muscles are hardened for tramp
can tire and run down any denizen
| OF the forest of Maine, save bird 9.
Concluding from the size of som q
tracks that one of these moose must be
COW, Clifford started in pursuit, and
for two days kept hot on the trail.
| often finding warm beds which the
now jaded. and nervous animals had
just vacated. ...s 49,
1t would appear that this female
was barren, had great leg power and
some knowledge of the law, for she
made great struggle, keeping we'll
ahead OF the hunters, who unfortu-
nately had the wind with them all the
time, getting finally across the an
clent boundary line into Canada, from
which territory Clifford dared not
extricate her without documents
other than Winchester rifles. There
fore he turned back upon Maine soil
to look for new tracks and better
luck. He was rewarded the next dav
by coming full upon a COW moose
lying down., which at once arose and
charged at the parity in zig-zag
way:
Clifford was much surprised at the
action of this COW. He had before
that stood his ground when two.
thirds of ton of bull moose was
rushing straight at him, but this COW
appeared as dizzy as Canadian
sFrenchman full of Canadian split; she
beloved, too, as though in pain and
alarm. Clifford shot her, and going
up to her found she was parturient.
In an hour she would have given
birth to her calf. No wonder she
fought, grew dazed and beloved in
alarm. At once the taxidermist
opened her, taking out in perfect
form, alive, sound, and with eyes
wide open, a moose in miniature, a
dream in moose hair and hoofs,
little thing no larger of body than a
Sforty-pound dog, and but twenty
three inches high. The little animal
thus SO queerly ushered into the
world saw the weather-beaten faces
OF four hunters, saw the rifles, the