THE REINDEER OR CARIBOU 315 



other Deer, and will crawl under an obstacle rather than jump over it. 

 It is the fastest and most powerful swimmer of all Deer, and swims 

 higher out of the water than any other beast, buoyed up by the air 

 entangled by its thick coat. 



With the exception of the Woodland Caribou of America, which 

 keeps .to cover and is found only in small numbers together, the Rein- 

 deer affects open country and is found in large herds; the Barren- 

 ground American race, which lives north of the forest limit, is said 

 not to interbreed with its forest relatives, even when they meet. 



The staple food of the Reindeer is the celebrated Reindeer "moss" 

 — a lichen which grows abundantly in the north ; it also feeds on 

 any other available vegetation — grass, shoots of trees (where available) 

 and bushes, and even seaweed. When' its food is concealed under 

 the snow, it reaches it by pawing with its fore-feet, the idea that the 

 expanded brow-tine is a " snow-shovel " being apparently a mistake. 

 It has, like so many Arctic animals, a great power of elaborating fat, 

 and lays on more of this than any of the Deer when food is obtainable ; 

 but, of course, it often has to suffer much privation during the long 

 winters, when the surface of the snow is liable to freeze hard. 



The Wolf is a deadly enemy to it in winter, and it is also much 

 subject to the attacks of insects, such as gadflies, in summer. It is a 

 wary and restless animal, always ready to shift its ground if hunted. 



Its meat is, of course, a very important article of food to the 

 natives of the countries it frequents, and the skin is also of value, 

 and many are sent to England, while the antlers are extensively 

 exported also. 



Most important of all, however, is the utility of the Reindeer as a 

 domestic animal, in which capacity it has been known from very 

 ancient times, both in Europe and in Asia; the Caribou of America 

 has never been domesticated, but Lapland Reindeer have been exported 

 to Alaska. 



The value of this creature to the northern tribes who use it is in- 

 valuable, as no other animal could supply its place ; since it furnishes 

 meat, milk, hides, and is also used as a working animal. In this 



