DEER FAMILY 



31 



days they take things easy, traveling in the 

 must leisurely fashion, and spending the greater 

 |)art of the day in resting and feeding, particu- 

 larlv between the hours of nine and three." 

 Their favorite food is the reindeer moss. When 

 winter comes, and the snow is too deep for them 

 to dig out their ground moss and lichens, they 

 turn to the tree-growing mosses, such as the 

 Usnea, or Old Man's Beard. When " the winter 

 liegins to break, the days become longer, the 

 nights less bitter, and the Aurora Borealis is 

 no longer seen, the Caribou becomes restless ; 

 the large herds break up, and in ones and twos 

 the does begin the long return journey to their 

 summer homes in the north." 



The young Caribou are born in June ; gen- 

 erally there is but one fawn, occasionally twins 

 are produced ; the nursery being in the thick 

 forests of spruce. The Cariboti has few ene- 

 mies in Newfoundland. " Wolves are practi- 

 cally extinct on the island ; the Lynx is rare, but 

 its extreme cunning makes it a danger to be 

 dreaded. . . The chief enemies are . . . mosqui- 

 toes and several species of flies, some of which 

 cause intense annoyance and suffering." The 

 does nurse their young as late as November. The 

 summer months are spent in the higher regions, 

 where, " often hidden away among the forests, 

 marshy barrens aboimd, and nearly all are 

 sprinkled with small ponds and lakes." 



BARREN-GROUND CARIBOU 

 Rangifer arcticus (Richardson) 



General Description. — See general description of 

 Woodland Caribou. Much the same as the Woodland 

 Caribou, but smaller in size with very long, slender 

 horns. Much whiter feet and legs. 



Dental Formula. — See dental formula of Woodland 

 Caribou. 



Pelage. — Adults: Summer. Above, clove-brown 

 mixed with dark reddish and yellowish-browns, under- 

 parts and lower side of neck white. Wintrr. Entire 

 coat soiled white. 



Measurements. — A little smaller than the Woodland 

 Caribou. 



Range. — North of the forest zone in .■\rctic .\merica 

 in the barren districts. 



Food. — Largely moss and twigs of small shrubs. 



Remarks. — One of the smallest of the Caribou and 

 living the farthest north. Differing from the other 



Caribou in the characters given above, it is commonly 

 classified in a distinct group. It has several relatives 

 in this group in North America, besides the European, 

 or Scandinavian Reindeer. 



Related Species 



Barren-Ground Caribou. — Rangifer arcticus (Rich- 

 ardson). Typical form. Barren-Ground region of 

 .'\rctic America. 



Grant's Caribou. — Rangifer granti Allen. Size small. 

 \ white rump patch. Brow tine much expanded. 

 Barren grounds of Alaska Peninsula. 



Greenland Caribou. — Rangifer groenlandicus 

 (Gmelin). Size small. Antlers long, slender, with but 

 few points. White ring around eye. Greenland. 



This denizen of the treeless, desolate wastes 

 extending from Htidson Bay to Great Slave 

 Lake, and known as the Barren Grottnds, is 

 a smaller animal than the Woodland Caribou, 

 and the only deer of this region : hence its name. 

 The front of its head is more cowlike than that 

 of the \\'oodland species, and its antlers are 

 disproportionately long. They have fewer points 

 than those of the W^oodland, and the brow 

 tines incline downward. As a whole they pre- 

 sent an armchair appearance. Both the males 

 and the females have horns and shed them 

 annually. 



The Barren-Ground Caribou winters in the 

 woods in latitude about 63 to 66 degrees, the 

 bulls going deep into the forests, and the females 



remaining near their edges. About the end of 

 April they make short excursions from the 

 woods, returning, however, if the weather is 

 frosty. In May the females make their way to 

 the sea-coast, and in the following month are 

 joined by the bulls. In the section immediately 

 east of the Mackenzie River the females leave 

 the timber about March, and the bulls follow in 

 April. The spring journey is made partly on 

 the snow, and, after the snow has disappeared, 

 on the ice that covers the lakes and the rivers. 

 Soon after their arrival at the coast of the 

 Arctic Sea the females drop their young, usually 

 two, although some of the Indians say they 

 have seen females with three fawns. The herds 

 feed on the moist pasttires of the valley bottoms 



