APPENDIX 199 



once the caribou has gotten the wind of the hunter, no mat- 

 ter what his previous curiosity and friendliness, he imme- 

 diately stampedes in a rapid, distance-consuming race for 

 new fields. The calves and isolated cows and young bulls 

 are preyed upon somewhat by wolves, but the herded caribou 

 are exempt from attack. Even the lordly moose will usually 

 avoid battle with a bull caribou, which offsets its lesser bulk 

 with sharper horns, and where bull caribou and bull moose 

 fight, as occasionlly happens, the moose is very glad to re- 

 tire second best. The fur of the caribou is much used by the 

 natives for sleeping robes, moccasins, and clothing, while the 

 flesh is only a shade less edible than mountain sheep, the 

 most delicious of all meats. 



MOOSE 



The Yukon moose is darker in color and bulks larger in 

 weight as well as in size of horns than the moose of East- 

 ern Canada; his habits are similar in most respects to his 

 brethren of Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. Like 

 them he feeds principally on willows, though he also eats 

 some grass when he can find it. In the summer he de- 

 lights to frequent the low valleys, where he feeds on roots 

 and aquatic plants found in the rivers and lakes. In Oc- 

 tober they leave the low country and go far up the draws 

 leading into the mountains ; in hunting the caribou far above 

 timber line upon the high tundra mountains, I have come 

 across many moose antlers upon the tundra, and since the 

 moose shed their horns from the middle of December to the 

 middle of January, the presence of these horns indicates that 

 at this season of the year they frequent the tundra moun- 

 tains, where, I am informed, they dig through the snow 



