The Hope Pioneer (Hope, N.D.), February 13th 1908

That Ghost Moose

Weird Phantom That Roams Maine Forest.

Remarkable Stories of Spirit Animal Told by Guides – All Sorts of Disturbances Caused by His Antics.

If the stories of guides to the north of here can be relied upon a “ghost” moose is at large west of Molunkus river and is creating all sorts of disturbances. Whether the spirit of a moose roams the forests, or whether the animal is of flesh and blood and educated to the ways of man, it matters little so long as he has completely terrorized the guides.

The phantom was first seen, so report has it, by one Sandy Hill, who was in charge of a party of Massachusetts sportsmen camped beyond the old Patten stage road. The crowd was out one afternoon when the moose suddenly showed up within range of the guns of three of the party, and they fired simultaneously. The moose dropped, and it was noted that he looked at his slayers with mild, tearful eyes. As there was no time to dress the animal, it being late in the day, the carcass was hung on a tree, bled and allowed to remain over night. Next morning the moose was gone, and his tracks plainly showed that he had walked off.

The following night the party was aroused out a heavy sleep by a deep breathing at the door of their shanty. There, with his throat cut and his mournful eyes fixed on them, stood the very animal they had shot less than 48 hours before. Sandy managed to come out of his stupor and fire his rifle and again down came the moose. This time he didn’t stay down. Still gazing at them with his awful eyes he arose and fitted backward into the forest. Daylight plainly revealed his tracks.

This was the last Sandy’s party saw of the ghost and they were glad of it. But he hadn’t taken himself off the face of the earth by any means, for Burt Peggins, who has a trapper’s camp west of Ashland, received a visit from the “critter.” According to his story he had come in from his traps just as the moon was rising and was standing his gun against the cabin when he felt a hot breath on the back of his neck and turned to look into the nose of a moose with its throat cut. He was so startled that he darted within the cabin and banged the door after him. Peering out the window he saw, so he says, the ghostly intruder pick up his rifle with his teeth, pull the trigger and discharge it. Then the apparition vanished. Peggins didn’t get over the shock for three days.

Arthur Hill was coming in from Mud Pond when he almost stepped on the moose lying in a copse of flr. He fired point blank, but missed and the moose grasped his gun and evaporated. He hasn’t seen either since, but when he got home he found moose tracks at his door and discovered that some animal had made a wreck of his cabin. The door wasn’t wide enough to admit the body of a moose, but there were no other tracks in the snow.

The strangest story is told by Harry Porter. He was out for a moonlight drive with his best girl when his horse dropped dead from the heart disease. He was five miles from the village and the situation was embarrassing. He took the horse from the thills and was stooping over to remove the harness when he heard the sound of heavy breathing and turned. There, in the thills stood the phantom moose. Porter says that without knowing what he did he harnessed the animal, climbed back beside his best girl and took up the reins. They got to the edge of the village in record time when the moose stopped and signified that he wished to be released. So Porter took off the harness and walked the rest of the way. Porter has never shot a gun in his life.

Disclaimer: This 1908 newspaper article was published prior to 1931. Under United States copyright law (specifically the 95-year rule), this work has entered the public domain and is thus free to use or republish. It is presented here as an interesting and folkloric newspaper oddity.

Source(s): https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn87096037/1908-02-13/ed-1/?sp=3

Categories: Newspapers, Ghostly Animals