Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-10-27
THE WILD CARIBOU.
Something of It's Habits of Life and Un
definabie Antics,


1t is as fond of the ice as a school-boy,
and full as ready for frolic. After the
ice has formed in November, it is soon fol-
lowed first by SHOWS, and then by thaws or
rain. The latter converts the snow into
slush, resting on the firm ice beneath.
Now any sensible creature would keep
away from such a mess. But not so the
caribou, for to it this makes the very gala
time of the year. The herd go out upon
the ice in single file, then scatter and
each one falls to paving up the slush with
its forefeet After they have tired of this
performance, they fall upon their knees
and seem to lap the ice with their tongues,
Why they do this is, as far as the writer
has been able to learn, a mystery. 1t cer-
tainly is not from thirst, since they have
crossed dozen open brooks in their morn
ing ramble. Perhaps, to use one of those
slang expressions so happily indefinite
in leaving unbridled liberty of detail
to the Imagination of the hearer, they
do it for grandeur" This is the most
simple, and indeed at times it seems the
only explanation of many of the vagaries
of this most singular creature. After a
while one will suspend operations, seem to
think things over generally, then go over
to where another has mined down piece
Of ice to extra flavor, and prod and poke it
with the utmost vigor. The assaulted
party rises to its feet, and meekly signs
its place to the intruder, which Immediate
ly drops upon its knees and continues the
operation of its predecessor, while the
ousted either passes along the compliment
by routing out another, or proceeds to dig
a new spot for itself. Then perhaps all
will lie down for while, and, though one
would think the bed about as congenial as
the inside of an ice cream freezer, chew the
cud in apparently the acme of bovine
comfort Next one will slowly rise to its
feet, round up its back, and survey its
comrades to select the one which seems
most comfortable, and then, actuated by
that perversity of disposition we so
often see and anthematize in the hui
man early risers proceed to stir it up
with both hoof and horn, until it
too gets upon its legs and joins in the
game. Soon all are on their feet
and falling in one behind the other, move
for the woods in single file, headed by the
leader-always bull, though not invari-
bly, the largest in the herd. They move
off at walk, their heads hanging down
precisely like cows driven to pasture.
Suddenly one will become possessed of a
devil, and breaking from the ranks with a
hop, skip and jump, charge through the
line again and again, until it is thrown
into complete disorder. Then it will as
suddenly fall into place, as demure as a
cat, saying, as distinctly as an attitude can
speak, "What you do not mean to charge
this antimely disturbance to me, do you ?'
The march is then resumed, and all may
disappear at the meekest kind of walk
in the surrounding forest; or, without the
slightest apparent cause, the herd will
break into run at pace so keen you al
most fancy you can hear them whiz as
they cleave a passage through the air.
This burst of speed may last for hundred
yards it may be kept up through thick
and thin for five miles; the one is about
as likely as the other.-Hdrper's Magazine.