48 BULLETIN 1089, U. S. DEPAETMEXT OF AGRTCrXTURE. 



The time for castration should be gorerned by the weather, as i 

 is unwise to undertake it when the weather is hot and flies ar, 

 abundant. The proper time to operate on fawns or yearlings i 

 when green food is available and before the hot weather and th 

 flies appear. As it is unsafe to rope or handle adult reindeer whe: 

 the horns are in the velvet, on account of danger of injury, castra 

 tion of the older animals should take place either early in the sprin. 

 before the horns are gro"^n, although they are harder to handle a 

 this time, or else after the velvet has "set," which is just befor 

 rutting, or about August 20. 



Cleanliness in the operation is important to avoid infection, an 

 disinfectants should be used to keep the hands and the instrument 

 clean. The operator should not have to handle the animals, bu| 

 they should be thrown and held as he directs. j 



FAWNING. ' 



The average period of gestation in reindeer is 7 months and 

 days, so that the first fawns generally appear about April 10. L 

 1920 and 1921 the first signs of rutting were noticed the latter par 

 of August, and it continued into October (PL XIX, Fig. 1). Dur 

 ing rutting time the herd should be placed in the best pasture avail 

 able and should be very little disturbed, and during the latter par 

 of the winter the does should be kept as quiet as possible for a 

 least two months before fawning, in order to avoid accidents. 



In selecting areas to be used by reindeer during the fawning p6 

 riod, at least two requirements must be borne in mind, namelj 

 ample green feed, so that the does will produce sufficient milk fo 

 the fawns, and a site giving protection against severe storms, i 

 good fawning range should have as good natural protection as th 

 topography and surface cover will allow, particularly in the wa 

 of coves and hollows and available patches of protecting brush o 

 timber. Low altitudes with favorable exposures for the earl 

 growth of vegetation afford the most desirable fawning grounds. 



Along the coast of Alaska fawning usually takes place on som 

 portion of the summer range, either on exposed flats irmnediatel; 

 along the beach or on the south slopes of the low hills adjoining ii 

 The snow leaves these areas earliest, exposing patches of bare tundre 

 where the first fresh growth appears, thus making available th 

 succulent green feed necessary for the does during fawning (P- 

 XIX, Fig. 2). This early growth usually consists of young shoot 1 

 or flowering stalks of the small cotton sedge {Eriophorum colUtrix. ' 

 which appear abundantly on the tundra, and its green blades als 

 are found here and there on protected spots. 



A definite fawning ground should be established and used oj 

 each reindeer allotment, both from the standpoint of best care o 



