The moose have made their comeback. They are now inhabitants of the Adirondack region. In fact, they have made forays into many of the settlements and into the cities outside the Blue Line. It is only in recent history that they have, once again, become residents of the wilderness. I have a TV tape of a show I did some 40 years ago where I was predicting that the moose would someday come back to the Adirondack wilds. And they did.

When they did the report on the "Temporary Study Commission on the Future of the Adirondacks" in 1971, recommendation No. 69 made a bold suggestion for that day, saying, "Extirpated [missing] native species should be reintroduced wherever appropriate stock is available and the potential for a successful restocking is considered good." The one-time missing residents of the Adirondacks included the lynx, wolverine, wolf and puma, along with the moose.

More on the moose

At one time, the moose was a common Adirondack mammal that enjoyed a good life in the mature forests of the Adirondack Mountains. Logging expanded the deer range and a parasite associated with the deer was believed to be fatal to the moose. The accuracy of the early hunters probably helped to finish off the resident Adirondack moose.

Alvah Dunning and his father took three or four moose a day, and occasionally, five a day. Alvah said that they "petered out" during the winter of 1854-55. The end of the Adirondack moose was somewhat abrupt - only scattered reports were recorded after the 1850s.

The sighting or taking of the last moose in the Adirondacks at that time has been debated for years. The last moose in the Griffin area of Hamilton County was reported in 1852. The 14-year-old son of Phillip and Abby Wadsworth was out in the woods with his dogs. The dogs drove a moose into the Sacandaga River near Big Bear Brook. The boy was so frightened by the big antlers that he hid in the dry bed of the creek until the creature left.

Gov. Horatio Seymour thought that he took the last moose. He bagged one hunting near Jocks Lake in Herkimer County in 1859. Another party of hunters claimed the "last moose" in the Adirondacks near the east inlet of Raquette Lake. They were hunting with physician-turned-guide, Captain Calvin Palmer of Long Lake. The animal was seven feet at the hump and weighed 800 pounds.

Alvah Dunning may deserve to be the last of the old time moose hunters. He claimed to have taken the last moose in 1862 near West Canada Creek. Field and Stream Magazine verified his claim.

Reintroduced moose

Since that time, there were several attempts to reintroduce the moose before they brought themselves back in the 1980s. In 1902, eight moose were brought from Canada and released. Four more were added the next year. The $3,000 project met with failure. The Browns Tract Guides had already tried in 1901 with a $5,000 project and failed.

Moose sightings were reported over the years. Surveyor Verplanck Colvin saw one in 1874 in the remote mountains. A cow moose was seen in 1957 and a young bull was killed by hunters in 1962. The moose were trying to make a comeback.

Beginning in the 1980s, after a long debate over whether to reintroduce or not, the moose made their own decision. They immigrated from east and north of New York state. Seven moved in during the early 1980s and quickly multiplied to 20 animals. And it never ended; they kept on coming and multiplying. Today, hundreds of moose have made their homes in the Adirondacks. Warning signs are posted on the highways, and some accidents have been reported.

It looks like our original residents are here to stay.