40 Proceedings of the Neiuport Natural History Society. 
of the deer kind, is rather a clumsy animal, having a long 
thin neck with a hump at the base. The antlers, which are 
borne only by the males, are thin and but slightly palmate, 
and are sometimes as much as six feet in length. Thebrow- 
aqtlers, which point straight forward, are always unequal. 
In warm weather the caribou seeks the water courses and 
ponds, feeding upon the roots of the cow-lily or upon the 
wild cranberry, and in winter he leaves the lowlands and 
seeks the highest and most barren mountains, where he 
subsists upon a peculiar sort of moss which is found on 
the northerly sides of the rocks. Caribou never “yard” 
like the moose. 
At the present time caribou are not plenty in Maine, 
their numbers having been sadly depleted by reckless hunt¬ 
ing. Many have been trapped by makers of snow-shoes, 
the skin of the caribou being considered superior for this pur¬ 
pose, as it is extremely light and tough, and is also water¬ 
proof. It is to be hoped that the laws for the protection of 
caribou, which, as I have already said, prohibit their pursuit 
for six years, will have the effect of soon increasing their 
numbers. 
