Hunting in Many Lands 



imagine that when they are very numerous 

 there would be little sport in killing them, for 

 as a rule they are not at all shy or difficult to 

 approach. In general it may be said that the 

 caribou of this region, known as the wood- 

 land caribou, live in the wooded districts dur- 

 ing the summer and autumn, but in the winter 

 time go to the higher land. Wind and cold 

 seem to have no terror for them, and I doubt 

 very much whether there is an animal in the 

 world, with the exception perhaps of the 

 musk-ox or the polar bear, that is so well 

 fitted by nature to withstand the intense cold 

 of the region in which they live. When one 

 sees a caribou's track for the first time, he is 

 amazed at its size, and its difference from the 

 long, narrow, sharp-toed track of the moose, 

 and naturally comes to the conclusion that the 

 animal must be much larger than it really is. 

 As a matter of fact, they are not much larger 

 than the black-tailed deer, and considerably 

 smaller than the elk of the Rocky Mountains. 

 Until he has seen them, one is likely to imag- 

 ine that the caribou is an ungainly, misshapen 

 animal. This is a great mistake. Not only 

 are they as a rule well proportioned, but they 

 are extremely graceful. Their curious horns 



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