132 Tue Aroostook Woops. 

trees; and all through the winter, as we have the mild 
changes with warmer nights, their tracks and paths are seen 
in the morning running in every direction over the light snow, 
outside again. The horns falling off early in winter and being 
covered with snow, they are made soft from the dampness, 
and the little fellows scenting them, scarcely ever leave a parti- 
cle of the choice nibbling behind. In the spring and summer 
the new set is growing on again, very fast indeed, and at the 
first the bucks rather seclude themselves some place in the 
woods, or keep mostly upon the meadows and barrens, away 
from thickets and low growing branches, as the newly grow- 
ing horns are very hot, soft and sensitive to any little touch 
or hurt. We have occasionally seen them while in the velvet. A 
gentleman of Portland, Maine, and the writer, on our way 
fishing one morning, as we stepped out of the woods upon a 
barren, saw standing directly in front of us, not eight rods 
away, a fine buck caribou, his horns in the velvet. He was 
apparently not at all disturbed, and we had a fine view of 
him. He very likely heard us coming and had waited to see 
what was abroad so early in the morning. With his head 
turned toward us standing broadside to us, he looked inquisi- 
tive for half a moment, then looked up the barren. At that 
moment he was a picture not to be forgotten ; with nothing to 
obstruct our view but the wet mosses (green, red and brown) 
growing just above his black polished hoofs. His antlers, or 
rather the two main ones, were nearly the full length; from 
these had grown the hand shaped parts or palms, and the 
stubbs only, the many sharp points to come from these, not 
showing as yet, and all were fully covered with the velvet. 
Later on, the antlers having their growth, or nearly so, no 
doubt an itching at their base is the cause of the caribou rub- 
