Caribou 205 



In the early spring, as soon as the snow gets soft, the large spring 

 bands of Woodland Caribou drift in a northerly direction and 

 speedily break up, the old males going off by themselves. It 

 is interesting to note that, up to this time, the females still wear 

 their antlers — will do so, indeed, till summer, while the old 

 stags have been dehorned by mother nature in early winter. 

 The females are, therefore, well equipped to send the males 

 about their business in case there be any who conform not 

 promptly to the established usage of the Caribou. 



The calf is born in June and is of a reddish brown, varied 

 with white, but not spotted all over, as in the true Deer. 

 Sometimes twins are born. In Norway I was assured by the 

 herdsmen that when this is the case the mother usually de- 

 stroys the second arrival. 



The Norwegian Reindeer and the Barren-ground Caribou 

 do not hide the calf at all, so I suppose that the same is true of 

 the Woodland species. The mother stays with it, never going 

 far away for a minute, and it is strong enough to follow her 

 within an hour after birth. 



In the country around James's Bay M. Spencer says'^ that 

 it is suckled for two months, and weaned by the ist of Sep- 

 tember. 



Early in October the rut sets in. The bulls begin to seek mating 

 the cows, bellowing and fighting, much as do the Wapiti. I 

 never had the luck to see them at this time, nor do I know 

 any one who has. Linklater, after some years among the Cari- 

 bou about Lake Abitibi, believes that they are polygamous, but 

 has seen only two or three cows with one bull. 



Whether they make wallows or have any peculiar habits 

 during this season, I can not learn. There is great lack of 

 information, and at best we can do no more than fall back on 

 analogy and reason from the habit of the Norwegian and 

 Barren-ground species, that the bull beats off other bulls from 

 as many cows as he can secure, and that he devotes himself to 

 these for the season. In November, when the bands begin 



"Low, Expl. James Bay. Can. Geol. Surv., i8S8, App. Ill, p. 76. 



