THE WILD REINDEEK OF NOEWAY. 101 



On the under side of the neck the hair is long and 

 hangs down in a peculiar manner. It has a short tail, 

 covered sparsely with short stiff hairs. Generally, the 

 reindeer is somewhat smaller than the red deer, and its 

 legs are shorter and appear to be more nimble. While 

 the tame reindeer seldom attains a greater weight than 

 130 to 140 pounds, the wild bucks are often found the 

 double of this. I have heard of two bucks being shot 

 on the Laesjo Fjeld weighing about 324 pounds each. 

 The outer layer of fat on one of them weighed forty- 

 eight pounds ! 



The antlers are smooth, rounded off, and flat on the 

 inside ; those of the doe are of the same form as the 

 bucks, only smaller. The periods at which they shed 

 their horns differ greatly. The old bucks usually 

 shed theirs before Christmas, whilst the does and young 

 bucks do not shed them till the spring. In the former, 

 they begin to grow again in the summer, and are then 

 covered with a soft hairy coating of skin. By the 

 middle of September they are perfectly developed, 

 and have now become hard and firm. At this time 

 they may often be seen rubbing their antlers against 

 sandbanks, in order to get rid of the coating of skin, 

 which hangs down in long strips, and stamping with 

 their hoofs on them till their horns are quite bare. 

 During this operation they frequently lose a great 

 deal of blood. Should the weather be sunny their 



