Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-03-20
THE ELUSIVE Caribou

q derness Wanderer.
RESTLESS, FLEET AND SHY.
He Is Keen Of Sight, Subtle OF Scent,
Acute Of Hearing, Strangely lnquisi-
tive and Can Easily Travel Fifty
Miles In Single Day
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 inquisitive
member Of the entire deer family.
Like the moose, he carries an antler
crown that tempts sportsmen to long,
leg wearing tramps In PARKWAY places.
and except in open countries. where
his kind gather in immense herds to
feed on the moss barrens, he lis one Of
the most difficult Of game animals to
get q shot at. Both the bull and the
COW Of the caribou tribe wear antlers,
the latter's being more delicate in
beam structure and not so widely blad-
ed as those Of the bull
Where there is lack OF snow to aid
the tracker in translating the this-way-
and-that of a caribou trail a cunning
like that exercised by Kipiing's Now
gil IN the story OF the Kings Ankus"
Is quite necessary for success. Being
extremely restless, the caribou even
when eating or drinking, Is not content
70 CLEAN his fill from one place, no mat
ter how abundant the food. It Is q
nibble here, slip there, and so on un-
I'll rods and sometimes many acres are
covered In satiating 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 a
hurricane tears through the solitudes
and lays fiat scores OF trees.
Because Of his restlessness the In
dians called him the wandering one.
and that's what his Latin name sug-
gests His natural gait Is trot. a
long, swinging, tfreless 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, fuzzy snow
OF q heavy storm packs and settles the.
caribou can go over 1t fast enough to
prevent being run down by a hunter
on saowshoes, and his winter hoof IT,
go constructed, with updrawnlfr frog and
sharp edges, that he can make full
speed on glare Ice. The caribousis gre
garious in his habits, not inclined to be
quarrelsome with his fellows and, be-
sides being a wanderer, is extremely
shy. When herd bivouacs for rest
it is usually In a woody opening or on
the windward side Of a bog. This
scheme Of precaution 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-
BILE than a cloud shadow can approach
without being seen, heard or scented.
Curiosity sometimes brings serious
trouble to the caribou, as, for instance,
when being trniled 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, un-
aware that the quarry Is within gun
shot, Is being quietly looked over BY
the caribou. who has made detour to
survey his back track from 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 Hchooied iii remote, lonesome
places Ia 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
than to hesitate when fleeing from dan.
lger. The deer is a natural jumper and
1 will take fallen tree or a fence fol
4 the sheer fun Of jumping, whereas On
Iuntutored caribou will duck under OF
90 around. The calves as we'll as the
\ mature animals are very fleet Of foot
especially when frightened into run
That gait however, Ii not natural fol
them, and IL kept at 1t for any consid
cradle time they tire. An Oldtowl
i {Me.) Indian. once asked IL caribou evel
were logged In Maine. seemed surpris
I'd ana said:
Dog d caribou7 guess no! b
1 taribon he run 30 blame fas' he dom
leave no scent Z which is good de
1 Gription Of the speed with which the,
measure distance between themseIye.
-. 49, 5