DEER FAMILY 



27 



Mountain Caribou. — Raiujijcr monlanus. Seton- 

 Thompson. Size very large, color very dark, horns 

 massive. British Columbia. 



Osborn Caribou. — Rangifcr oshorni Allen. Very 

 large in size, e.xceeding the Mountain Caribou. Antlers 

 very long and heavy. Cassiar Mountains. British 

 Columbia. 



Peary Caribou. — Rangijcr pcaryi Allen. Pure white 

 except for large dark patch on mid back. Known only 

 from 4 skins. EUesmere Land. 



Stone Caribou. — Rangijcr stoiici .Mien. Dark in 

 coloration with heavy fringe of white hairs on front 

 of neck. Antlers long and not especially massive. 

 Kenai Penin,=nla. 



Dawson Caribou. — Rangifcr dawsoni Seton-Thomp- 

 son. Size very small, color dark. Queen Charlotte 

 Islands. 



Alberta Caribou. — Rangifcr fortidcns Hollister. 

 Largest of the North American Caribou. Coloration 

 very dark. Antlers stout, heavily palmate. Females 

 normally without antlers. Alberta. 



Newfoundland Caribou. — See description which 

 follows. 



Barren-Ground Caribou. — See description which 

 follows. 



Scandinavian Reindeer. — See description which 

 follows. 



This Caribou, which is the original type of 

 the Woodland Caribou group, is a large and 

 powerful animal, about twice the size of a Vir- 

 ginia Deer. A typical specimen, from Maine, 

 in the Zoological Park, New York, is described 

 as " a strong lusty animal, forty-eight inches 

 high at the shoulders, weighing 280 pounds, and 

 endowed with sufficient energy to vanqtiish the 

 strongest man in about one minute." The Wood- 

 land Caribou is an odd-looking creattire. Its 

 head, long and resembling somewhat that of the 

 cow, is carried low and thrust forward ; its 

 shoulders are high and sharp. Its hoofs, which 

 are cleft nearly to the hocks, make, as it walks 

 on the hard ground or withdraws them succes- 

 sively from the ooze of a marsh, a distinctly 

 clicking sound. 



When not suspecting danger, the \\^oodland 

 Caribou has a careless, slouchy gait and. it must 

 be confessed, an unattractive appearance ; but 

 when it scents a foe " the listless, careless pose 

 gives place to one animated and ftill of spirited 

 attention; the head is carried proudly aloft, 

 crowned by its noble weapons of offense and 

 defense. . . . And then, the foe appearing, how 

 grand is the animal's movement as, in a stately 

 trot, with head and tail uplifted, the proud Deer 

 passes rapidly from view over the yielding 

 moss." 



The antlers present some noticeable differences 

 from those of the Barren-Groimd species, being 

 generally " short in the main beam, liberally 

 palmated both on brow-tines and tips, and have 

 upwards of thirty points. As a whole, the antlers 

 have a tree-top appearance." 



One of the Woodland group, the so-called 

 Osborn Caribou, is supposed to be the largest of 

 Caribou; it has a height of fifty-five inches at 

 the shoulders. 



The summer coat of the Woodland Caribou is 

 of a dark gray, with white under parts and a 



white catidal patch. In winter the body changes 

 to a very light hue, and the neck becomes almost 

 ptire white. The color of the pelage varies con- 

 siderably in different members of the group. The 

 Black-faced, or Mountain, Caribou of south- 

 eastern British Columbia is, in September, nearly 

 black, while the Barren-Ground is the whitest of 

 all Caribou. 



The female also may have antlers, though 

 smaller. Antlers are shed between January i and 

 the end of Febrttary. the new ones growing 

 slowly till the warm weather comes, when they 

 lengthen rapidly, attaining full size about Sep- 

 tember 1st. The animal removes the velvet, or 

 soft covering, by rubbing its antlers against the 

 trees, and is then ready to do battle. The pair- 

 ing season begins in September, and usually one 

 fawn is born each year. Occasionally two are 

 produced. 



The Woodland Caribou, unlike his Barren- 

 Ground brother, is a wide-awake aniirial. In 

 districts where his chief enemy, man, has not 

 molested him he is confiding. His " first inclina- 

 tion on seeing an intruder is to come up and 

 jjlay with him." Mr. Charles Sheldon in the 

 Upper Yukon district saw a Caribou with her 

 young one which carne twenty-five yards toward 

 him, looked at him indifferently and then trotted 

 off. When surprised, the animals seem to become 

 panic-stricken and unable to escape ; but as soon 

 as they scent danger they are off. On the ice 

 they are exceedingly swift, soon outdistancing 

 the hunter. The Woodland Caribou is a forest 

 rover, and is usually found in the swamps. The 

 Cree Indians call it the Swamp Deer. They seek 

 the mountains in the spring, and spend their 

 summers above the timber line, hiding in dense 

 thickets in the day and coming out at night to 

 wander about and to drink of the nearest lake. 

 In the autumn the Cariboti leaves the heights for 



