Page 197 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

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THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF BIG GAME 175
wherein they are conspicuous, easily stalked and easily killed. Nowhere do they exist in large herds of thousands, or even of many hundreds. They live in small bands of from ten to twenty head, and even those are far apart. The region in which they live is certain to be thoroughly opened up by railways, and exploited. Fifty years from now we will find every portion of the now-wild Northwest fairly accessible by rail. The building of the railways will be to the caribou—and to other big game the day of doom. In that wild, rough region, no power on earth, save that which might be able to deprive all the inhabitants and all visitors of firearms,—can possibly save the game outside of a few pre- serves that are diligently patroled.
The big game of the northwest region, in which I include the interior of Alaska, will go\ It is only a question of time. Already the building of the city of Fairbanks, and the exploitation of the mining districts surrounding it, have led to such harrassment and slaughter of the migrat- ing caribou that the great herd which formerly traversed the Tanana country once a year has completely changed its migration route, and now keeps much farther north. The "crossing" of the Yukon near Eagle City has been abandoned. A hundred years hence, the north- western wilderness will be dotted with towns and criss-crossed with rail- ways; but the big game of it will be gone, except in the preserves that are yet to be made. This will particularly involve the caribou, moose, and mountainsheepofallspecies,whichwillbethefirsttogo. Themountain goat and the forest bears will hold out longer than their more exposed neighbors of the treeless mountains.
The Moose.—In the United States the moose is found in five states, Maine,Minnesota,Montana,WyomingandIdaho. Thereare550in theYellowstonePark. InMaineandMinnesotaonlymaymoosebe huntedandkilled. Intheseasonof1909,184moosewerekilledinMaine, —a large number, considering the small moose population of that state. In northern Minnesota, we now possess a great national moose preserve of 909,743 acres; and in 1908 Mr. Fullerton, after a personal inspection in which he saw 189 moose in nine days, estimated the total moose popu- lationofthepresentdayat10,000head. Thisisamoosepreserveworth while.
Outside of protected areas, the moose is the animal that is most easily exterminated. Its trail is easily followed, and its habits are thoroughly known,downtothreedecimalplaces. Asahunter'srewarditisGreat. Strange to say. New Brunswick has found that the moose is an animal thatitispossible,andeveneasy,toprotect. Thedeathofamooseisan event that is not easily concealed ! Wherever it is thoroughly understood that the moose law will be enforced, the would-be poacher pauses to consider the net results to him of a jail sentence.
In New Brunswick we have seen two strange things happen, during ourowntimes. Wehaveseenthemoosemigrateinto,andpermanently occupy, an extensive area that previously was destitute of that species. At the same time, we have seen a reasonable number of bull moose killed
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