Deer.1 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



131 



for other domestic purposes. In Sweden, it is con- 

 trary to law at this particular time to kill the elk 

 at any season of the year: this is not the case in 

 Norway ; for in that country, these animals may be 

 destroyed, with certain limitations as to numbers, 

 from the 1st of July to the 1st of November inclu- 

 6i\c. The penalty however for killing an elk out 

 of season, in Norway, is very much heavier than in 

 Sv.eden ; it amounts indeed, including legal ex- 

 penses, &c., to about 20/., which is no inconsider- 

 able sum in that kingdom." (Lloyd, Northern 

 Field Sports, vol. ii., p. 329, et seq.) 



Immediately following the passage above quoted 

 there is a very interesting account of the mode of 

 hunting the elk, in Scandinavia, upon "skidor," or 

 snow skates, interspersed, as most of such narratives 

 are, with notices of the habits of the animal ; but 

 as our limits will not permit its insertion, we refer 

 the reader to the work, which is well worthy of his 

 attention. 



The American Elk, or Moose-deer (Mousoa of 

 the Crees; Mongsoa of the Algonquins; Denyai of 

 the Chippewyans), presents the same habits and 

 manners as the Elk of Scandinavia. Formerly its 

 range was more extensive than at present. Dr. 

 Richardson, in his ' Fauna Boreali-Americana,' says, 

 " Du Pratz informs us, that in his time the moose- 

 deer were found as far south as at Ohio ; and 

 Denys says, that they were once plentiful in the 

 island of Cape Breton, though, at the time he wrote, 

 they had been extirpated. At present, according 

 to Dr. Godman, they are not known in the state 

 of Maine ; but they exist in considerable numbers 

 in the Bay of Fundy. They frequent the woody 

 tracts in the fur countries, to their most northern 

 limit. Several were seen on Captain Franklin's last 

 expedition, at the mouth of the Mackenzie, feeding 

 on the willows, which, owing to the lich alluvial 

 deposits on that great river, extend to the shores 

 of the Arctic Sea, lat 69°. Farther 1o the eastward, 

 towards the Coppermine River, they are not found 

 in a higher latitude than 65°, on account of the 

 scarcity on the barren grounds of the aspen and 

 willow, which constitute their food. Mackenzie 

 saw them high up on the eastern declivity of the 

 Rocky Mountains, but I suspect they are rarely, il 

 ever, found to the westward of the mountains." 

 The moose-deer appears to be a solitary animal, 

 at least in the more northern latitudes ; the older 

 writers .speak of it as being found in small herds, but 

 there is room for suspicion that the moose and wapiti 

 are confounded together. From its exquisite sense 

 of hearing, and habitual wariness, the chase of the 

 moose-deer is very difficult : indeed, as Dr. Richartt- 

 son states, " The art of moose-hunting is looked 

 upon as the greatest of an Indian's acquirements, 

 particularly by the Crees, who take to themselves 

 the credit of being able to instruct the hunters ol 

 every other tribe.'' In summer the moose is so 

 tormented by mosquitoes, that he becomes, to a 

 certain degree, regardless of the approach of man ; 

 but in winter, when the ground is covered with 

 snow, in which the hunter tracks the animal by its 

 footmarks, it requires the greatest caution to get 

 within gun-shot. The slightest noise, the rustling 

 of a leaf, or the cracking of a twig, is sufficient to 

 give the alarm and disappoint the hopes of the 

 hunter. Nor is the chase always unattended with 

 danger, for if the animal be an old male, and the 

 shot does not bring him down, he will often turn 

 infuriated on his enemy, who is then obliged to 

 shelter himself behind a tree ; and Dr. Richardson 

 observes, that he has heard of several instances in 

 which the enraged animal has completely stripped 

 the bark from the trunk of a large tree by striking 

 with his fore-feet. On firm snow, owing to the 

 spread of its hoofs, which make a loud crackling 

 noise at each step, the moose can sustain a length- 

 ened pursuit ; Captain Franklin records an instance 

 of a chase kept up by three hunters for six suc- 

 cessive days, until the track of the animal was 

 marked with blood. On the fourth day the chief 

 hunter sprained his ankle, and the others were tired 

 out, but one of them, after a rest of twelve hours, 

 followed up the game, which after a chase of two 

 days more he succeeded in killing. The moose is 

 often killed by the Indians while crossing rivers ; 

 and the young, as Heme states, are so simple as 

 to allow an Indian to paddle his canoe up to them : 

 he has seen an Indian lake one by the poll without 

 experiencing the least opposition, "the poor animal 

 swimming at the same time alongside the canoe as 

 if swimming by the side of its dam, and looking up 

 in o'-ir faces with the same fearle^s innocence that 

 a honse-lamb would, making u.se of its fore-foot 

 almost every instant to clear its eyes of mosquitoes, 

 which at that time were remarkably numerous. 

 The moose is the easiest to tame and domesticate 

 of any of the deer kind." 



From the length of its limbs and the shortness of 

 its body, the rnoose shuffles or ambles alone, and 

 when it is at full speed the hind-leet straddle to 

 avoid treading on the fore-heels, which sometimes 



happens so as to trip it up. During its progress 

 it raises its head horizontally in order to throw the 

 horns upon the withers. The moose does not at- 

 temp to leap, but steps easily over a fallen tree or 

 any other obstacle. It swims with ease and ra- 

 pidity, and is very fond of the water, in which it 

 often remains immersed for a whole day in hot 

 weather, in order to escape the attacks of the 

 mosquitoes, and leisurely browses upon the twigs 

 within its reach. The shortness of the neck, the 

 length of the limbs, and the formation of the upper 

 lip combine to render the moose a browsing ani 

 mal : the shoots of the willow and birch are a 

 favourite food; it is particularly partial to the red 

 willow (Cornis alba), and also, according to Lewis 

 and Clark, to the evergreen leaves of the Gualthe- 

 riashallon. Its skin, when dressed, forms a soft 

 and pliable leather, excellently adapted for moc- 

 cassins. 



Destitute as is the elk of the grace and compact- 

 ness of form so conspicuous in the stag, it is never- 

 theless a noble and striking animal : those who 

 have contemplated it amidst the wilds of its native 

 regions describe the effect of its appearance as very 

 imposing. 



2. Rangifer. — Antlers flattened. 



587 to 591.— The Rein-Deer 

 (Rangifer Tarandus, Cervns Tarandus, Linn. ; Cer- 

 vus Uangifer, Brissot). The rein-deer presents the 

 following characteristics, which form good grounds 

 of separation from the other sections. Both sexes 

 possess horns and canine teeth ; the muzzle is 

 covered with hair, excepting that there is a small 

 naked space between the nostrils, the indication, as 

 it were, of the naked muzzle which we find in the 

 succeeding groups. The nostrils are oblique and 

 oval. The head is somewhat large and long, the 

 neck is short and thick, and carried horizontally. 

 The horns, especially in old males, are of great 

 size, but present considerable variation of figure. 

 They may be described, in gene ral terms, as consist- 

 ing each of a long slender compressed skin, inclined 

 backwards with an outer ami upward sweep ; a 

 brow antler sometimes found only on one horn, 

 sometimes on both, advances forward, assuming a 

 vertical palmated form, and hanging over the 

 muzzle : this plate usually terminates in digiiations ; 

 sometimes, however, it is plain. A second antler 

 rises at some distance above the brow antler, and 

 ascends upwards, assuming at its extremity either 

 a palmated form or dividing into two or three small 

 branches. Besides these, one or two snags rise from 

 the main stem, which generally terminates palmated 

 with deep digitations. 



The feet are deeply fissured ; when pressed to 

 the ground they spread— when raised up they close 

 together, and, if the animal be in quick motion, 

 with a smart snap (Fig. 592 represents the hoofs 

 closed ; Fig. 593. the hoofs expanded). The hoofs 

 are round and very concave beneath, with sharp 

 edges; the accessory toes are much developed. 

 The fur consists of two sorts, a soft close underwool, 

 and an outer covering of close, harsh, brittle, erect 

 hairs, which are elongated beneath the neck so as 

 to hang down like a fringe. The limbs are short 

 and muscular, the shoulders and neck very power- 

 ful, the body firmly built, and the whole contour of 

 the frame is such as eminently qualifies the animal 

 for the service of the Laplander. 



The rein-deer is spread throughout the Arctic 

 regions of Europe, Asia, and America, the wilds of 

 the polar circle being its congenial abode. The 

 finest animals are those of Finmark, Lapland, and 

 especially Spitzbergen ; those of Norway and Swe- 

 den being inferior in strength and stature. In Asia 

 it extends farther to the south than in Europe, 

 ranging along the Ural chain to the foot of the 

 Caucasian mountains ; it is common through the 

 northern latitudes of Siberia, and abounds in Kamt- 

 schatka. In America, where it is termed the 

 Caribou, it is most numerous between the sixty- 

 thiid and sixty-sixth degrees of latitude, its most 

 southern limit being about .W. 



It has been a question whether the rein-deer of 

 Europe, Asia, and America are specifically the 

 same or distinct : we are inclined to regard them 

 as varieties of one species ; but are aware that 

 in the opinion of some zoologists there are two 

 distinct species, as indicated by the form of the 

 skull, in the Old World; and that the American 

 rein-deer is again distinct ; indeed it is a question 

 whether in America there be not two species ; cer- 

 tainly there are two well-marked varieties. The 

 decision of points like these is, however, alien to our 

 present object. 



The rein-deer (we allude more expressly to the 

 European animal, though the remarks apply to that 

 of Asia and America) is eminently migratory in its 

 habits, and herds in troops, which travel from the 

 woods to the open hills and back again, according 

 to the season. The woods are their winter refuge ; 

 here they subsist on the long pendent lichens 



which hang in festoons from the trees, on the wnite 

 lichen which covers the ground, and on the twigi 

 of the birch and willow. \Vith the return of spring 

 they begin their migration from the forest to the 

 mountain ranges, partly to obtain their favourite 

 food, but chiefly in order to escape the myriads of 

 mosquitoes ; and especially from the gad-fly (Ois- 

 trus Tarandi), which now begins to appear : the 

 latter being greatly dreaded by the rein-deer, the fly 

 not only tormenting it with its sting (ovipositor), 

 but placing its egg in every wound it makes. Fig. 

 594 represents this formidable insect. So impe- 

 rative is the instinct that impels the Lapland rein- 

 deer to these migratory movements, that it cannot 

 be modified in the domestic race which constitutes 

 the sole wealth of the Laplander, and on which he 

 depends for existence : hence he is obliged to lead 

 a semi-nomadic life, taking periodical journeys of 

 no ordinary toil, from the interior of the country to 

 the mountains which overhang the Norway and 

 Lapland coasts, and back to the interior. 



Lapland, says Hoflberg, is divided into two tracts, 

 called the Alpine and Woodland country. Those 

 immense mountains, called in Sweden Fjelfen, divide 

 that country from Norway, extending towards the 

 White Sea as far as Russia, and are frequently 

 more than twelve miles in breadth. The other, 

 called the Woodland division, lies to the east of this, 

 and differs from the neighbouring provinces of 

 Norway by its soil, which is exceedingly stony and 

 barren, being covered with one continued tract of 

 wood, of old pine-trees. This tract has a very 

 singular appearance. The trees above are covered 

 over with great quantities of a black hanging lichen, 

 growing in filaments resembling locks of hair, while 

 the ground beneath appears like snow, being totally 

 covered with white lichens. Between this wood 

 and the Alps lies a region called the Woodland, or 

 Desert Lapmarc, of thirty or forty miles in breadth, 

 of the most savage and horrid appearance, consist- 

 ng of scattered uncultivated woods, and continued 

 plains of dry barren sand, mixed with vast lakes 

 and mountains. When the mosses on part of this 

 desert tract have been burnt, either by lightning or 

 any accidental fire, the barren soil immediately 

 produces the white lichen which covers the lower 

 parts of the Alps. The rein-deer in summer seek 

 their highest parts, and there dwell amidst their 

 storms and snows, not to fly the heat of the lower 

 regions, but to avoid the gnat and gad-fly. la 

 winter these intensely cold mountains, whose tops 

 reach high into the atmosphere, can no longer 

 support them, and they are obliged to return to the 

 desert and subsist upon the lichens. Of these, its 

 principal food is the rein-deer lichen. There are, 

 says Hoft'berg, two varieties of this : the first is 

 called sylvestris, which is extremely common in 

 the barren deserts of Lapland, and more particu- 

 larly in its sandy and gravelly fields, which it 

 whitens over like snow ; its vast marshes, full of 

 tussocks of tuif, and its dry rocks, are quite grown 

 over by it. The second variety of this plant, which 

 is less frequent than the former, is named, the 

 Alpine ; this grows to a greater height, with its 

 branches matted together: it has this name be- 

 cause when those mountains are cleared of their 

 wood the whole surface of the earth is covered 

 with it; yet it is seldom to be found on their tops. 

 When the woods become too luxuriant, the Lap- 

 lander sets fire to them, as experience has taught 

 him that when the vegetables are thus destroyed, 

 the lichen takes root in the barren soil and mul- 

 tiplies with facility ; though it requires an interval 

 of eight or ten years before it comes to a proper 

 height. The Laplander esteems himself opulent 

 who has extensive deserts producing this plant 

 exuberantly ; when it whitens over his fields, he is 

 under no necessity of gathering in a crop of hay 

 against the approach of winter, as the rein-deer 

 eats no dried vegetable, unless perhaps the river 

 horsetail (Equisetum fluviatile). They rout for this 

 lichen under the snow like swine in a pasture. It 

 sometimes happens (but very rarely) that the winter 

 sets in with great rains, which the frost immedi- 

 ately congeals ; the surface of the earth is then 

 covered with a coating of ice before the snow falls, 

 and the lichen is entirely incrusted and buried in 

 it. Thus the rein-deer are sometimes starved, and 

 famine attacks the Laplanders. In such an exi- 

 gence they have no other resource but felling old 

 fir trees overgrown with the hairy liverworts. "I'hese 

 afford a very inadequate supply, even for a small 

 herd, but the greater part of a large one, in such a 

 case, is sure to perish with hunger. 



With the approach of winter the coat of the rein- 

 deer begins to thicken, and, like that of most polar 

 quadrupeds, to assume a lighter hue. In a domes- 

 ticated state the animal is subject to a great variety 

 of colour : many are white, and mottled individuals 

 are by no means uncommon. Sir Arthur Brooke 

 and other writers notice the strange propensity to 

 devour the lemming (Arvicola Norvcgicus; Mus 

 Lemnus, Linn.) which this animal often exhibits ; 



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