Moose Day in Kempt

In June of 1910, a group of young ladies from the United States traveled into the wilderness around Lake Rossignol, finding there the most delightful country they had ever visited. They saw three baby moose, one bull moose and one cow moose. The trip by the girls to Camp Rossignol, run by Phil Moore – who later built White Point Lodge – was chaperoned by Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Hastings. Hastings, originally from Pittsburgh, had seven years previously bought the mills and timberlands of the Davison Lumber Company, a huge lumber enterprise begun in Mill Village and then re-established on the LaHave River, at Bridgewater. The girls were having the times of their lives, and the sightings of the moose were clearly the highlights.

Moose were plentiful then. That same year, a full-grown moose jumped into the LaHave and swam over to the Bridgewater business section, decided against coming ashore and swam back over to the railway station, where it headed into the woods behind. A number of residents rushed home for their guns, but the animal was long gone by the time they had returned.

Western Nova Scotia was a sportsmen's paradise, especially loved by hunters and fishermen from south of the border. A book written about a fishing trip through what are now Kejimkujik and the Tobeatic is being celebrated this year with the Tent Dweller's festival, it being a century since the book's publication. The Canadian Pacific Railway, when it wanted to honour a group of important writers and sportsmen from the United States in 1919, gave them free moose-hunting licenses and set them loose in the Kejimkujik area.

Before long, however, there were concerns. As early as 1924 people were worried about the moose population being depleted, and urged a ban on the sale of moose meat. By 1936, all moose hunting on mainland Nova Scotia was banned. When European settlers had arrived in Nova Scotia in the 1600s, moose were the most abundant large animals in the province. By 2003 they were declared an endangered species.

With the moose having something of a legendary status in Nova Scotia, it was time for an update on its condition, so the Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute in Kempt staged a day-long moose celebration, primarily organized by Dr. Donna Hurlburt. We headed there on a recent rainy Saturday to see what was up. When we went inside we were struck by the number of kids present, who were getting ready for some of the games and competitions that had been organized.

Some of them were excited about Bullwinkle, the mechanical moose operated by the Department of Natural Resources, which had been set up in a nearby grove of trees. Technicians from the department showed how the moose moved its head from side to side and how it collapsed when shot, its purpose being to smoke out poachers who are destructive to the moose population. Those caught face major fines and the loss of their vehicles.

We got coffee and cookies and settled back to listen to Sarah Spencer, an intern with the DNR who is specializing in large mammals; and Tony Nette, DNR large mammal wildlife manager. A mainland moose recovery plan was done last year by DNR and the Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute.

Sarah showed slides and talked about the efforts of DNR to study and preserve the mainland moose population (the moose population on Cape Breton Island had completely disappeared by the 1800s, but was re-established with the introduction of Alberta moose in the 1940s, and is now a healthy population – perhaps because of the more northerly climate in Cape Breton).

Both Tony and Sarah said there were a variety of factors affecting the mainland moose population, not all of which were well understood. One factor mentioned was that in other parts of North America where there are moose they exist in temperatures colder than those in Nova Scotia, and that an increase in temperatures here could make life difficult for mainland moose.

DNR is currently involved in studying moose and their habitat to better understand the animals, and much of the discussion centred around what was being done. Meantime, downstairs at the MTRI, kids were doing moose art work and playing games like pin the tail on the moose. At noon, three stews, one each made of moose meat, deer meat and just plain vegetables, were served, and in the afternoon there was a moose-calling competition, the telling of moose stories, and a slide show of moose pictures taken in the local area.

It was the best rainy Saturday I'd had in some time.

- Tom Sheppard can be reached at twsheppard@gmail.com