THE REINDEER OR CARIBOU 



(Rangifer tarandus) 



LIKE the Elk, the Reindeer is an example of an animal inhabiting both 

 worlds, but known by a different name in each ; for the Caribou of 

 America is not regarded as a different species from the Reindeer of the 

 Old World, though presenting some slight differences, not important 

 in an animal so variable locally as this is. 



It is very strikingly different from all other Deer, and, with the 

 exception of the misshapen Moose, is the least elegant of the family, 

 its large head, usually carried low, short thick neck and legs, and 

 sturdy build more suggesting an Ox than one of the graceful and 

 elegant Deer family. It is a large animal, often considerably exceed- 

 ing our Red-Deer in size. The ears and tail are both short, and the 

 feet broad, with great power of expansion, so that they readily 

 support the beast on a yielding surface like snow or mud. The back 

 or false hoofs are larger than in any other species except the Musk- 

 Deer. 



The coat is very thick and close, and varies a good deal in colour, 

 some specimens being much whiter than others. The white neck is 

 a very marked character in some American races, from one of which 

 the illustration is taken ; the females show less white than the males, 

 and the winter coat is whiter than the summer one. The young fawns 

 are not spotted, like those of most other Deer. 



The antlers of the Reindeer are altogether peculiar, and can be 

 distinguished at once from those of any other Deer, though in no 

 other species are they more variable, both individually and locally. 

 Especially to be noted is the fact that the brow and bez tines are 

 forked or flattened, while the tres tine is absent altogether ; the beam is 

 strongly bent, and is often flattened at the end. 



Often, especially in the American Caribou, one brow-tine is very 



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