Reflecting on clear cutting and moose sightings in Hants

nothing in almost three months since Lahey submitted his advice.

I’ve been thinking about Hants County resident Mark Kehoe and his prolonged fight to have wildlife prioritized over a proposed clear cut in Upper Vaughan. Back in October I wrote the department of lands and forestry to protest that clear cut.

Somebody called ‘Forestry Maps’ wrote me back and indicated, in part that, “wildlife biologists have indicated that going forward this particular Deer Winter Area (DWA) should be managed for harsh winter conditions as opposed to mild winter conditions. In addition to the designation change of the DWA from mild to harsh winter conditions, the area of the DWA has been increased in size, now encompassing the entire Crown parcel in which proposed harvest plan HN068094 is located.” I took that a stoppage, but babblegab makes it hard to tell.

That prompted a look back. You see a hundred years ago not only deer, but moose were routinely observed in Hants County. Sometimes sightings were even news. In 1913 on the Bog Road in Falmouth three cow moose were spotted in a pasture perfectly unconcerned. One day when the Midland Railway went through, Mary Elizabeth Clark reported some splendid animals appeared very tame and seemed to understand that the season is closed.

Moose hunting, in those days, attracted American hunters just as it had members of the Imperial forces from Halifax a century before. In 1921, an enthusiastic hunter from Massachusetts shot a moose near Clarksville and had his first trophy shipped home. The monarchs of the woods were shy and when they got the scent of a stranger there was a wild dash, but sometimes they were up for racing.

In 1927, near Levy Settlement on the Chester Road, a moose outpaced an automobile for four or five miles. The auto was going 25 mph. The moose made no effort to take the lead.

Three years later, a moose travelling at about 35 mph raced a car at West Gore for nearly five miles and won.

“Occasionally the impromptu racer would look around to see if Mr. Simm, the driver, was keeping up the contest and beckon him on for a little speed. After a while the animal made up his mind that he was superior to anything that Henry of motor fame could put up and gracefully faded away into the darkness of the woods,” wrote Mrs. Clark.

Once she got lost in the woods and discovered a ‘moose yard,’ which Mrs. Clark described as “a place where moose will stay for weeks in hiding, feeding until they have eaten everything near them. I thought it had been a retreat from the sportsmen at ‘calling time.’ The ground was covered under the trees with the most beautiful green moss with an occasional clump of sphagnum moss with pinkish tips and cradle hill of ground hemlock of which the moose is very fond in many places.”

In 1934 she reported, “too many hunters and the game are very wild. Poor moose and deer we are glad the season is over.” Not long afterward, two mills in the vicinity were actively clearing the woods. “We do hope there will be enough left to feed and shelter the moose.”

Born in the 1860s, Mrs. Clark could recall a time when caribou that roamed the woods. To her, the deer that replaced them were a nuisance.

“When I was a little child, they (the caribou) were in Panuke but were driven out by hunting with dogs, but I saw one, one time. The moose will not become extinct if the lumbermen are careful as they thrive on the young saplings that spring up, particularly the poplar.”

By 1950 Mrs. Clark was fondly remembering moose sightings.