REINDEER GRAZING INVESTIGATIONS IN ALASKA 



13 



boundaries, but most of the units will liave a carrvin<i; capacity of 

 r),()()() to lO.O(K) reindeer. Acc()r(lin<:ly. the future iierds in Alaska 

 will run from a.OOO to lO.OOO heads, or an avera^a' of 7.500. 



Larjre <;ra/in<r allotments will make jiossible the establishment of 

 cooperative herds amonjr numerous small owners, and this will result 

 in tiie formation of many cooj)erative reindeer associations, or live- 

 stock companies, esjDecially among the Eskimos, 



HERDING 



Reindeer are now herded almost entirely on foot, mainly by 

 natives and Lapps, conuuonly aided by do<rs. One or two herders 

 «iO out each day from a central camp to watch the herd, sometimes 

 remaining out over night. Horses for herding are emjiloyed to 

 some extent in the interior but have yet to be tried along the coast. 

 Sled reindeer and dog teams are used during the winter for hauling 

 camp supi^lies; in summer, transportation is largely by boat and on 

 foot. 



ROUND-UPS 



The herds are rounded up for marking or branding and castra- 

 tion early in summer, usuallv in July. Again, in fall and early in 

 winter — (Dctober, November, and December — they are rounded up 

 for butchering. During the middle of the winter another round-up 

 may take place for separating mixed herds or breeding and non- 

 breeding stock. All handling was formerly done by roping on the 

 open range or in a crude bru.sh corral. Now. however, the corral 

 and chute method has come into more general use, and roping is 

 being abandoned (pi. 5). 



CORRALS 



Two methods of corralling are employed, one using the chute, the 

 other the pen. For efficient work with the chute a large force of 

 men is necessary, whereas the pen has the advantage of requiring 

 only a small crew. When the chute is used, all the animals are 

 driven through and caught at the end (pi, 6). "When the pen is 

 used, the animals are handled in a central working pen and those 

 to be marked or otherwise handled are captured by means of sheep 

 hooks, 



A diagram of a corral of the pen type successfully in use at 

 Kokrines, Alaska, is shown in Figure 2. With this corral a crew 

 of five men has marked reindeer fawns at the rate of 750 a day. 

 A highly successful type of corral of the chute method, and the 

 tyi^e most commonly used, is shown in Figure 3. Witli a crew of 

 15 men, reindeer may be handled in a corral of this kind at the rate 

 of 125 to 175 an hour. 



In erecting the type of corral shown in Figure 3, it is very im- 

 portant to construct the entrance hook leading to the holding pens 

 and chute on the side of the corral meeting the direction of mill. 

 This may be either to the right or to the left depending upon the 

 individual herd. One herd will not mill both ways, always going 

 either clockwise, or counterclockwise. It is therefore necessary to 

 note the direction of mill in order so to consti'uct the entrance hook 

 as to intercept the milling animals and facilitate their capture. Two 



