The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1912-08-13
CHARACTER OF
THE BULL MOOSE
(From The Literary -pigest)


that he was adding a new animal t
the political menagerie and giving thu
cartoonists and photographers thu
chance of their lives. But IL he didn'
he has found it out since. And aloni
with 1t, we have all discovered how
little we know about this denizen o
the wildwood, whose feelings are
seemingly so similar to those Of
great statesman about to go on the
rampage. The editor of the New
York Independent, unable to restrain
his curiosity about the bull moses
traits, appealed to the Rev. William
j. Long who was denounced by the
Colonel some time back as a ma
ture faker," and Mr.. Long has res
pended feelingly. He writes what we
fear is rather satirical article, pre-
faced with a letter to the editor, in
which he disclaims any expert
knowledge of the subject, saying that
he has met only three or four humid
red moose in their native haunts. He
congratulates himself, however, on
having found in a secondhand shop
an old volume written by IT. Roose.
welt, who, you remember, once had
considerable local reputation 40 {
naturalist, especially among FEEDER.
al office.holders whose positions
were not secured by civil service re.
gulations." And he goes on:
find upon examination that the
esteemed author actually killed two
bull moose that were not looking and
chased three more that would not
wait to be shot. He was also intimate
with Hank Griffin, who once saw n
moose somewhere out West He
speaks, therefore, with authority.
That Mr.. Long has a poor opinion
OF the bull moose is made very, very
plain in the following paragraphs from
his article:
The bull moose lives ON the public
domain and is very wasteful feed
er. AS T. Roosevelt well says, mo
beast is more destructive to the
forest" When his great paunch is
full to bursting of the delicacies he
has gathered from the common sup
ply, he wanders toward his day-bed,
stripping the bark from tender
young trees. especially of the rarer
and more beautiful kind, like the
mountain ash and the striped maple.
His method is to strike his strong
front feet into the bark and tear of
a great strip by difting his head He
chews bit of this, only to throw II
aside and strip another tree farther
on. In trailing bull moose one can
often follow his course far ahead by
the unsightly gashes or ''peelings"
which he leaves behind him. Anoth-
er destructive method of feeding is
by riding down young trees whose
tops are above his reach. He strad-
dies the trunk, bending 1t down by
his great weight, holding 1t under
his belly while he eats all the buds
and tender twigs. A tree thus moose
ridden rarely RECEIVERS. II remains
bent or broken, like discarded boss;
II can not breathe without its leaves,
it dies and the winter SHOWS cover II
from sight. .
Another noticeable characteristic or
the bull moose is his inordinate and
Interchangeable selfishness. Whether
roaming the woods in solitude, or
tearing up the earth, or coming head.
long to the call. he is thinking, first,
last, and all the time, of the safety
OF his own skin and the fullness of
his own stomach. can take off my
hat to a COW moose, having frequent.
ly seen her sacrifice herself to save
her offspring or to protect the herd
in the winter yard; but | never yet
saw bull moose do anything for any.
body but himself. He is the incarna-
ton of self interest. A COW, or even
vail hioboNb IL oht Stto
preaching, will warn the others be-
fore she takes the first step for her
own safety; but a bull moose will
sneak away silently at the first sniff
of peril, leaving all others to look out
for themselves. And that, by the way,
is the real reason why a female ami.
NAL is invariably found at the head
OF band of moose or deer OF any
kind. II they are approaching dang.
er, you will invariably find the COWS
ahead, the calves close behind, while
far in the rear comes the bull, taking
care not to expose his precious hide,
and running from a safe distance at
the first warning OF danger. This
characteristic of the noble totem,
however, need not be emphasized-