1 8 NEWFOUNDLAND CARIBOU 



of their winter quarters. In the thick forests ot spruce and 

 fir, the prospective mother goes entirely alone, avoiding her 

 own kind even as she avoids man. There, safe from prying 

 eyes, her fawn first sees the light of day. He is usually an 

 only child, but if he be one ot two it will cause no surprise, 

 for twins are by no means rare. Neither does the mother 

 object, and kill the second arrival as the domesticated reindeer 

 is said frequently to do. The fawn is like most of the deer, 

 well-developed and strong at the time of its birth, so that 

 when but an hour or two old it can, with rather awkward 

 strides, follow its mother. Unlike many of the deer, it is 

 practically fi-ee from spots and is of a soft, warm mouse 

 colour with more or less defined light grey or whitish regions, 

 marked most strongly on the flank. 



How soon the mother leads her little one out of the 

 shelter of the forest I do not know, probably not for several 

 days, for outside the woods the flies are worse even than among 

 the trees ; she guards her ofi^spring with the tenderest care, 

 seldom leaving it for any length of time, always afl'ectionate 

 and solicitous for its welfare. Fortunately, she has few 

 enemies to fear. Wolves are practically extinct on the island, 

 the lynx is rare, but its extreme cunning makes it a danger 

 to be dreaded ; black bears are fairly abundant, though it is 

 very doubtful whether they ever harm the Caribou, young or 

 old, even though they will occasionally kill sheep and other 

 domesticated animals. The chief enemies are to be found 

 in the insect world : mosquitoes and several species of flies, 

 some of which cause intense annoyance and suffering. 

 Among these the black fly is the most numerous, and though 

 its persistent attacks in vast swarms must be almost as 

 aggravating to the deer as it is to man, its presence does not 

 result in the torture caused by some of the gad-flies. These 

 pests place their maggots in the animal's skin and nostrils, 



