REINDEER IN ALASKA. 45 



rope is gathered up into a number of small coils, and thrown at the 

 deer's antlers with the motion used in throwing a stone. The roper 

 does not whirl a single loop and throw the rope in cowboy fashion, 

 but throws the lasso so that it hits the horns and entangles them. The 

 thrower does not know whether he will catch one or both horns, but 

 expects that the loops will get caught on one or more of the numerous 

 points on the antlers. Roping reindeer (PI. XVII, Fig. 1) is much 

 easier than roping cattle or horses, where either the feet or head must 

 be accurately encircled. Reindeer are caught by the feet only by 

 accident. 



A form of injury that often occurs in roping, but to which the rein- 

 deer owners appear to pay little attention, is to the growing horns. 

 These are very vascular and soft, and are easily hurt. Serious hemor- 

 rhages are apt to occur, and harmful bacteria may gain entrance 

 where the velvet of the horns has been rubbed or torn off. For this 

 reason it is desirable to avoid roping the older animals, at least, until 

 the velvet has " set." 



EAR MARKING. 



Ownership in reindeer is commonly indicated by ear marking. 

 Usually this is done by cutting off the tip or notching one or both 

 ears, and one or two herd owners use a metal ear tag or button in 

 addition to cutting. Each individual owner has a different earmark, 

 and often separate marks are used among the various members of the 

 same family, particularly in the case of the Eskimos — ^the father, the 

 mother, the sons, and the daughters each having his or her individual 

 mark. Constant trading and bartering of deer among the natives re- 

 sults in the earmarks being continually so changed that at times the 

 ears are almost entirely cut off. Moreover, in the absence of provi- 

 sion for the registry of these marks, there is often considerable con- 

 fusion as to the ownership of the animals, and petty " rustling " is 

 frequently reported. 



The fawns in the majority of herds in Alaska are now earmarked 

 like their mothers. Individual reindeer owners pick each fawn as 

 belonging to this or that mother and mark it accordingly. In 

 a small herd this may be successfully done, but in a large com- 

 munity herd, especially where there are many owners, marking ac- 

 cording to the mothers does not work out very well. In a " milling " 

 herd especially, fawns may not follow their mothers. Thus it may 

 often be only a guess as to ownership in the picking of any par- 

 ticular fawn, and a large margin of uncertainty must exist in the 

 selections made. Consequently, there is the possibility of injustice 

 in marking, particularly in the native herds, since it is evident that 

 the individual owner having the greatest assurance and aggressive- 

 ness is in a position to get more than his share of fawns. 



