60 BULLETIN 1089, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
ROUNDWORMS IN THE STOMACH AND INTESTINES (OSTERTAGIA AND 
NEMATODIRUS). 
It is believed that roundworms are responsible in a large measure 
for unthriftiness in young reindeer. Anemic fawns have been exam- 
ined where no other parasites or disease could be held responsible 
for their lack of condition. The worms are small, the Ostertagia in 
the stomach being as fine as hair, but sometimes occurring in such 
numbers as to give the lining of the fourth stomach a reddish appear- 
ance. The Nematodirus worms in the intestine are larger and belong 
to two different undescribed species. They have been found in a 
number of cases in young reindeer, sometimes occurring in large 
numbers. These intestinal roundworms have a direct life history; 
the eggs are passed out with the feces and hatch upon the ground, 
and the larvae are then picked up by reindeer. Close and frequent 
grazing over the same ground will predispose animals to becoming 
heavily infested by these parasites. 
PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF WORMS. 
No attempts at the drug treatment of reindeer for worms have as 
yet been made. Prevention, however, has been essayed in a small 
way on reindeer allotments. If reindeer owners follow the recom- 
mendations made in the fore part of this bulletin about rotation and 
open grazing, they will materially cut down the losses from worms. 
The following examples serve to show how proper range manage- 
ment may prevent losses and improve the condition of a herd : 
During the winter of 1920-21 definite proof through post mortems 
was obtained that a small herd of about 1,400 reindeer was heavily 
infested with a variety of parasites. The native owner reported that 
during the previous summer he had lost 100 fawns from sickness. 
The parasites which were found in his animals included three kinds 
of tapeworms, cysts derived from dogs, and several species of round- 
worms. The owner was advised to treat his herd dogs for the 
removal of tapeworms. He was also told that his animals must 
have been grazing for too long a period over the same area. This 
he admitted to be the case, and stated that when he first came to his 
allotment his deer were much admired for their size and condition. 
He had remained on the allotment for the past eight years, but 
during the last four seasons he had noticed that his animals were 
losing in condition year by year and his losses had reached a point 
where they were causing him grave concern. He was advised to find 
new grazing ground during the following summer and to keep his 
animals moving, so that they would not remain over two weeks on 
a given area. The herd was reinspected during the latter part of 
September, 1921, and it was gratifying to note that the animals had 
