The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-07-30
THE ELUSIVE CARIBOU
An Animal of Mystery Is This Will
derness Wanderer.
RESTLESS, FLEET AND SHY.

To those familiar with the timbered
wilds and the dwellers therein the
woodland caribou IS an animal OF mys-
terry, the wanderer Of the wilderness.
the most restless. most inquisitiye
member of the entire deer family.
Like the moose. he carries an antler
crown that tempts sportsmen to long.
leg wearing tramps in faraway places
and except in open countries, where
his kind gather in immense herds to
feed on the moss barrens he is one of
the most difficult of game animals 10
get a shot at. Both the bull and the
cow Of the caribou tribe wear antlers.
the Iatter's being more delicate in
beam structure and not 50 widely blad-
ed as those of the bull.
Where there is lack Of snow to aid
the tracker In TRANSMITTING the this-way
and-that Of caribou trail cunning
like that exercised by Kiplings Now
gil I'm the story of the "King's Ankus"
is quite necessary for success. Being
extremely restless, the caribou. even
when eating or drinking. is not content
to CLEAN his fill from one place, no mat
ter how abundant the food. 1t is a
til rods and sometimes many acres are
covered I'm satiating a mild hunger.
The natural food is moss which is to
be found on bog land from Maine to
the limit of vegetation in the north,
and the ash green, beardlike moss pc
culiar to spruce tops in the big woods
This latter sustenance comes to them
after logging operations or when q
hurricane tears through the solitudes
and lays fiat scores of trees
Because of his restlessness the In
dams called him the wandering one,
and that's what his Latin name sug-
gests. His natural gait is a trot a
long, swinging, tireess trot which eats
distance with the sureness and steadi-
ness Of brook flow. Here today. he
may be fifty miles away tomorrow
and back again the day following
Unlike the deer and moose, the carl
bou never plans to yard up for winter
His feet are large and deeply cleft, his
ankle joints flexible, and when he
walks in the snow his dewclaws touch.
the whole spreading out into kind of
snowshoe. After the light, fluffy snow
or heavy storm packs and settles the
caribou can go over iC fast enough to
prevent being run down by a hunter
on snowshoes, and his winter hoof is
so constructed, with updrawn frog and
sharp edges. that he can make full
speed on glare ice. The caribou is gre
garious in his habits, not inclined to be
quarrelsome with his fellows and, be-
sides being a wanderer, is extremely
shy. When q herd bivouacs for rest
ia In w
the windward side Of a bog This
scheme of prccaution permits of eyes
to open and nose to cover, and. being
both keen OF sight, subtle Of scent and
acute of hearing, nothing more tangi-
bic than cloud shadow can approach
without being seen, heard or scented.
Curiosity sometimes brings serious
trouble to the caribou, as for instance.
when being trailed. Long before
tracker walks to view the animal
knows he is being followed and will
shift his course in order to avoid his
pursuer. Very often the hunter, I'm
aware that the quarry Is within gun
shot, is being quietly locked over by
the caribou, who has made a detour to
survey his back track from q thanking
position. Once he gets his eyes ON the
hunter his curiosity increases, and the
desire TO learn more about the two
legged outfit who has been following
his spoor usually results in bullet
being sent in his direction.
The young of the caribou are reared
and schooled in remote. lonesome
places in the depths of the timber
When the calves are three or four |
weeks old they are coaxed and butted +
into jumping over logs or blow downs
that later In life they may know better I
than to hesitate when fleeing from dam I
ger. The deer is natural jumper and I
will take a fallen tree or a fence for l
the sheer fun of jumping, whereas an l
untutored caribou will duck under or
go around. The calves as well as the I
mature animals are very fleet of foot. /
especially when frightened into run +
That gait. however. is not natural for I
them, and IL kept at it for any consid
cradle time they tire. An Oldtown
(MeD Indian. once asked IL caribou ever
were logged in Maine, seemed surpris-
ed and said:
Dog d caribou? / guess no, D
caribou he run so blame fas' he don't /
leave no scent" which is a good de-
scription OF the speed with which they
measure distance between themselves
and danger.
The range of the woodland caribou
is from Maine to the great lakes.
though from Maine. where years ago
many fine herds roamed through the
upper wilderness of the state they
seem to have vanished. A Gloss sea
son law was enacted for number of
years to give them an opportunity to
multiply. but the belief of old hunters
who know caribou is that they set out
for a long trek down across the New
Brunswick border for virgin spruce.
moss and bog lands new
Great herds of caribou roam the for
ests of New Brunswick. Nova Scotia.
Quebec. Ontario. and there are thou
sands upon thousands of them In New
foundland. A full grown bull will
weigh from $50 to 300 pounds.-Boston
Globe.
Lircoin Guessed Right.