8 BULLETIN 1089, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
period of shedding for the female herd as a whole covers a compar- 
atively long period, since the fawning season extends from April 10 
to the end of the first week in May. On April 20 some hornless does 
may be seen, but these are few in number. The shedding increases 
day by day until the peak is reached early in May, the last horns 
falling off about the 20th of the month. Occasionally does may give 
birth to fawns before or after the ordinary season, and in this event 
she casts her horns after the fawn is born. In one case a doe that 
dropped her fawn about August 28 was noted with one horn shed and 
the other clear of velvet on September 19. 
Bucks. — Eeindeer bucks 2f years of age and over drop their horns 
after the rutting season in November. The coming 2-year-old bucks 
shed their horns shortly prior to the time the females drop theirs. 
About the middle of November, in one of the herds at Unalakleet, 
there were observed many hornless bucks. Early in January, in two 
large herds which were counted, no bucks over 2f years old were in 
possession of horns. In contrast to this, none of the coming 2-year- 
old bucks had shed their horns at that time. Apart from lack of 
horns, it is easy to pick out the bucks which have been rutting, as they 
are gaunt and tucked up in the flanks, whereas those under 2 3^ears 
of age are usually in good condition. As the bucks cast their horns 
much earlier than the fawns or does, the new horns are far advanced 
in growth before those of the other members of the herd, and by the 
middle of April they may attain a length of 18 inches. 
Steers. — Castration has a remarkable effect on the horns, these 
secondary sexual characters being materially affected by any form 
of injury to the reproductive organs. It has been a common practice 
in Alaska to castrate the bucks that have been in service one or two 
years. Many are castrated in August, just before the beginning of 
the rutting season, i. e., after the velvet has peeled or " set " on the 
horns, and within the next two to three weeks the horns fall off 
(PI. VI, Fig. 1). When the horns are in the velvet and are growing 
at the time of castration the effects are quite different, in that both 
the horns and velvet remain on. Properly castrated steers retain the 
velvet until the horns fall off in the spring. If the operation has 
been only partially successful, as is often the case with the Lapp 
method, the effect is again different. The shock of the operation may 
cause the horns to fall off, but the following season, when the new 
horns appear, these partially sterilized animals show some signs of 
rutting, the velvet is partly peeled off the horns, and other evidences 
of sexual activity are shown. When an animal has been properly cas- 
trated (the glands entirely removed) it is docile and the velvet 
remains intact on the horns (PI. VI. Fig. 2). 
