Flashlight of Wild Moose in a Maine Forest

Categories

Special Collections > Keystone Slides

Type

tiff scanned file from original glass slide

Description

That moose is a queer-looking specimen of the deer family. It is the largest of the deer tribe. The Alaskan variety is the largest kind. These are said to be as much as 8 feet in height, with a spread of antlers amounting to 6 feet. They are ungainly animals on account of the length of the legs, which are out of proportion to the size of the body. Their necks are very short so that they cannot graze. For this reason they live on shrubs and young shoots of trees, such as the willow and the birch. It is because of this that the Indians called them moose. This photograph was taken after night by flash light. The camera hunters were in a canoe in a section of Maine where moose are fairly plentiful. At night moose often come down to a lake to drink and to browse on the lily-pads. They are good swimmers and do not hesitate to swim a cross a good-sized lake. The hunters heard the animal splashing in the water, cut it off from the shore with their canoe, and took the picture as it was clambering in the bushes on the opposite shore. In the winter it is the custom of these animals to live in large families. One male and several females live together in what is called a moose yard in the forest. This they keep open by tramping the snow down. When the moose calves are born they are spotted. If they are taken in time, they can be tamed. In some parts of Sweden and Canada they are used to draw sleds. Keystone ID: 13709 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.

Rights

Copyright by the Keystone View Company. The original slides are housed in McConnell Library's Special Collections.