ideal 

 have 



'or breakin 

 type, 

 to b 



SIX-FOOT 

 a trail or 



Photograph from Dora Keen 

 YUKON SNOW-SHOES 



crossing wide crevasses they are the 



but for climbing steep slopes or traveling where they 



carried considerable distances they are too long and 



cumbersome. 



only a short time in any one locality. In 

 the Toklat basin and in the vicinity of 

 Muldrow Glacier, however, the caribou 

 are at home, and they remain there 

 throughout the summer to rear their 

 young. 



DIFFERENCES IN ANIMAE BEHAVIOR 



There is abundant indication that this 

 is a permanent range. Deeply worn trails 

 form a veritable labyrinth along the 

 stream flats, and bedding grounds, old 

 and new, occur everywhere. The miners 



from the Kantishna 

 report that caribou 

 may always be seen 

 in great numbers on 

 this range. 



There is a striking 

 difference between 

 the actions of caribou 

 and those of the big- 

 horn sheep when sur- 

 prised by man. A 

 sheep, once aroused, 

 knows exactly where 

 he wants to go, and 

 usually starts, with- 

 out a moment's hesi- 

 tation, on the shortest 

 route to some rugged 

 mountain mass. He 

 may stop to look 

 around and appraise 

 the danger, but he is 

 sure to follow the 

 route he first chose. 



By contrast, the 

 caribou appears a 

 foolish animal ; he 

 seems at a loss to de- 

 cide whether it is nec- 

 essary to run away at 

 all. Then, when con- 

 vinced that danger 

 threatens, he has diffi- 

 culty in making up his 

 mind which way to 

 run. He has sharp 

 eyes for any moving 

 object, but evidently 

 refuses to trust his 

 sight until his nose 

 confirms his sense of 

 danger. 



I have many times 

 seen a caribou, after 

 he has discovered me 

 at a distance of no more than ioo yards, 

 stand and look, snort, lower his head half 

 a dozen times, then run wildly off for a 

 short distance, turn back toward me, re- 

 peat the same maneuvers, and make sev- 

 eral false, zigzag sprints, all within easy 

 gunshot, before he finally ran to leeward, 

 got the man scent, and started off for 

 good in great panic. In this region, with 

 proper caution and a favoring wind, one 

 can approach within 200 yards or less of 

 a band of caribou, even in the open, be- 

 fore they take alarm and move away. 



78 



