BIG GAME OF NORTH AMERICA 



415 



(3) WOODLAND CARIBOU (C. tarandus). 



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If we except C. canadensis, the woodland caribou comes next 

 in size to the moose, amongst American cervidce. Luckily 

 I have been able to obtain some accurate measurements of a 

 bull caribou, taken while the beast was still in the flesh by 

 a man who knew the value of precision. This bull, killed 

 in 1890 by Mr. John Fannin, measured from the nose to the 

 root of the tail 6 ft. 7 ins. ; stood 4 ft. 5 ins. at the shoulder, 

 and 4 ft. 7 ins. behind the saddle on the rump ; his girth just 

 behind the forelegs was 5 ft. i in., and the length of his 

 neck (measured along the top) was i ft. 5 ins. His weight was 



i, Woodland caribou ; 2, Barren Ground caribou 



never accurately ascertained, but a fair estimate would be 

 400 Ibs. live weight. These dimensions seem to me to give 

 a better idea of this long, low, heavily-built beast than any 

 which I could pen, but I freely confess that one of them 

 comes as a surprise to me. I should never have imagined 

 that a caribou stood higher behind than he does in front, 

 but I know my authority too well to doubt his accuracy in 

 such a matter. Our British Columbian caribou is reputed 

 to grow larger than the caribou of Eastern Canada, and those 

 heads which I have seen in the east were certainly not nearly 

 as fine as heads which I have seen out here. It is said, too, 



