THE GUN AT HOME AND ABROAD 
and are then easy to approach. They do not, as a rule, break up into small 
lots as they do in Newfoundland. The call of the male can be heard at a 
distance of about 300 yards, and is a series of grunts not unlike the cry of 
the fallow buck, although louder. The head is often held close to the ground 
as he utters three grunts, “ Ugh, ugh, ugh,” and then raised as he chases 
some female or ardent youngster whilst he gives a double call, “ Er-ugh, 
er-ugh, er-ugh.” When in full rut the male will stand for a long time with 
lowered head and legs apart as if sick, looking round occasionally with 
jealous eyes and sometimes dashing at full speed at any other male that 
comes near. In the tame herds a man who guards them ha.s to be accom- 
panied by a clever dog, and be possessed of quick movements, to avoid 
the rushes of the males in the rutting season, for they will charge a man 
with all the ferocity that they display towards each other. No deer fight so 
obstinately or so frequently as the reindeer. There is no “ bluffing ” or 
beating about the bush in their fight. They charge head on and meet with 
a crash that can be heard a mile away, and each tries to force the other 
downhill. One of the combatants generally gives way soon, but in the first 
charge they meet with such impetuosity that the horns are often broken. 
In fact in the end of October it is rare to see an adult buck whose horns are 
not broken. It is not until one observes two reindeer bucks in combat that 
one sees how wonderful a provision of Nature is the form of the large brow 
tine or tines, for on this the male receives the charge and is in consequence 
seldom injured. Were it not for this natural shield, or were their horns at 
all pointed like some red deer stags, many of them would be killed at the 
first impact. 
By the end of the first fortnight in November nearly all the adult males 
have lost their horns, and the herds descend to lower levels and sometimes 
consort with the tame herds. This habit and the fact that the old males 
often try and run off with the females of the tame herds during the rut has 
led to the destruction of the wild reindeer as much as by attacks in their own 
domain. Every Lapp in charge of a herd of tame reindeer has orders to 
shoot any wild reindeer “ on sight ” at any time of the year, so that in time 
the wild animals will soon cease to exist in the vicinity of the tame herds, 
for the Lapps are keen hunters and the bodies of the wild animals belong to 
themselves. 
It is uncertain at what date Norwegian reindeer were introduced into 
Iceland, but there are two herds there, one in the wild desert of the north- 
east near Dettifoss and the other in the south. The northern herd is a fine 
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