Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1903-01-03

cided whitening of its fur, so that at A
distance it is quite indistinguishable from
the surrounding snow, the moose takes
on beautiful dark coloring, the heads
and skins being far more beautiful in the
depth of winter than at any other season.
| asked Sabattis about it. The moose
is the king of the forest" he answered.
at needs no disguise"
If moose always could be found in the
same spot it would be easy enough to
kill them. | have seen on the Great
! Winoochee half acres of marshy ground
as trampled as a stock yard. But / have
waited there patiently for half night
and never a moose in sight. | have come
across the heavy trail, through the forest
| when | was either hunting or fishing, and
followed it up, only to find it leading to
one of these trampled up acres of ground
| apparently long since abandoned Sa
| BATHS tells me that the favOrite diet of
the moose is water lily which they drag
up by the root, sometimes keeping the
head under water for a minute or more
rather than crop off the pad or stalk
without dragging up the whole plant At
other times tney stay for hours at
time cooling themselves off in the lake
from the midsummer heat or to escape
the flies and other insects which plague
them.
One of the greatest exploits in Sa-
BATHS career was the killing of three
moose without gun. We got him to
tell us about it as we sat around the
camp fire that first night out. He saw
one evening three moose swimming
around in Winoochee lake. Padding up
to one of them as fast as he could, he
threw his blanket over its head, then
left it swimming about and chased the
second. Catching up with it, he threw
his coat over its head. The third moose
almost got away and was within sixty
yards of the shore when Sabattis came
up. The beast was tired out from swim
ming or Sabattis never could have
reached it. With a heavy stick he
struck it on the nose and stunned it and
then finished it with few heavy blows
He then padded back for the other two
moose and dispatched them in the same
way, for they We're nearly exhaustedt
since, not being able to see, they had
been swimming around in circles.
| have never known anyone to call
moose with the skill of Sabattis. Re.
member that in calling a moose a false
fatal. Sabattis' was n low, half-sup-
pressed call made through a strip Of
lirch bark shaped like horn. The !
wariest old bull moose pausing, uncertain
whether to come closer or to turn back,
would always be drawn on by old Sa-
BATHS call. The call is a series of
grunts, winding up with a long weird.
dismal roar and from the distance 10
which we have traced back moose trail
after killing the beast, Sabattis' call
seems to have been heard as far as three
miles in the depth of the forest Many
night | have lain out in a canoe with
him. sitting almost rigid for the greater
part of the night, since the silence of
the forest is profound and the slightest
movement might spoil ALL hearing him
repeat his calls at intervals of about
twenty minutes.
But we were hunting moose in mid
winter when the lakes are frozen and
there are no lily pads and when the cali
of the COW moose would have been out
of season. There was only one way to
bring down one of these monarchs of the
forest, and that was to find trail, then
lie in wait, no matter how long or how
cold, until the giant of the range came
along. But in order to find the trail we
could not roam through the forest The
crunching of the crust would be too clear
a warming That was the reason Sa-
BATHS had chosen high point of vantage
for our camp. He had brought a tele-
scope with him and one of us, fairly well
concealed behind the trees, while the
Others barely did more than peer ont
eagerly from the tent, swept the lake
and the valley with the telescope, hoping
To discover the trail of Il moose imprinted
or the snow. At first / was hopeful, but
rs the days passed and no sign of
moose, | began to lose faith in the sue
cess Of my expedition. But at last one
day-a beautiful, crisp day it was, too.
with the frozen crystals fairly sparkling
in the sunhght-Sabattis who had been
looking through the telescope, closed it
up with n snap and turned to me with an
expression of quiet satisfaction on his
face.
clear, moonlight night followed the
beautiful day. In the darker interval
between the dusk and the moon Sabattis
and had stolen down to the edge of the
forest where the trail entered the woods
from the lake. Such a hush. A silence
50 profound rested over everything that
the mere breaking of a twig under the
weight of snow or the swapping of an
icicle seemed to re,ccho through the val.
ley and hills. 1t was intensely cold. but
partly because | was clad in the heaviest
tlnd OF tur-partiy, perhaps, because of
my selt-suppressed excitement. | did n1t
feel the cold.
Both Sabattis and myself were peer
ing out through a small opening in heavy
houghs of a large spruce. Suddenly /
teIt Sabattis' hand on my arm. Looking
along the trail toward the other side OF
the lake. ! saw a blacker object emerging
from the shadow of the opposite hill.
Then huge black mass stood out
against the white surface of the frozen
lake, Slowly it came nearer and nearer.
Motjoulcss. almost GREATNESS. hut with
my hand on the trigger | waited for it
TO come within range. What / did cam
not exactly describe As in every crisis