Part 5

Within their natural range the Caribou apparently resort to practically every type of terrestrial and aquatic habitat (other than cliffs and precipices). On the Barren Grounds proper they frequent the open summits and slopes of the ridges, the dwarf birch thickets, the sedge bogs, and the peat bogs. Their trails traverse all the upland spruce and tamarack tracts, the wooded muskegs, and the willow thickets along the rivers. In the summer and fall they swim the rivers and the narrower lakes, and during the winter and spring they cross these on the ice. They do not avoid rapids; in fact, they seek the shallower ones as fords, and they swim the deeper ones (_cf._ Clarke, 1940: 88). They also cross the tundra ponds on the ice, but probably walk around these smaller bodies of water, as a rule, when they are not frozen. While they may prefer to approach the river crossings over open slopes, they do not hesitate to maintain trails through the dense thickets of willow on the banks.

The winter habitat of the major part of the Barren Ground Caribou population comprises the Hudsonian and upper Canadian Zones. This forested habitat is characterized by sparser and smaller timber in the Hudsonian Zone and by denser and taller timber in the Canadian Zone. Important among the features of this winter habitat are the frozen surfaces of the lakes and rivers, where the Caribou are wont to congregate for their daily periods of rest (_cf._ Mallet, 1926: 79; Ingstad, 1933: 86).

_Trails_

The favorite migratory highways are the long, sinuous ridges that stretch across the Barren Grounds in a sufficiently approximate north-south direction to serve the needs of the Caribou. Here their age-old trails are particularly in evidence and may even be detected from the air. A single small ridge may bear half a dozen or more such trails (fig. 1), roughly parallel but anastomosing at frequent intervals. They probably change but little from generation to generation. They provide the smoothest courses available, avoiding rocks and shrubs and traversing intervening bogs at the most suitable points. The summits of the ridges constitute vantage points from which the animals may keep a wide lookout for Wolves and human enemies, and on which they may obtain the maximum benefit from fly-deterring breezes. Man himself is glad to utilize these trails, whether on the Barrens or in the timber tracts, wherever they lead in a direction he desires. They are kept open by the hurrying feet of hundreds or thousands of Caribou every year.

Along a well-used trail extending through low Barrens near Duck Bay, I found a certain grass (_Agrostis scabra_) growing. I did not recognize or collect it elsewhere during the season. Is this perhaps like certain other species, such as _Juncus tenuis_ (_fide_ Dr. Edgar T. Wherry) and _Eleocharis baldwinii_, in curiously thriving on beaten paths?

When the Caribou arrive at some lake or river, they generally follow the shores for a greater or lesser distance, seeking either a way around or a suitable crossing-place. The trails thus formed are generally on the nearest ridges rather than on the immediate shores. Their direction, as they conform to the winding shores, may diverge very widely from the desired migratory course.

In many parts of the Barren Grounds there must be as many as 10 linear miles of caribou trails to every square mile of territory. Even if there were only one mile of such trails to each square mile, the total, on the Barrens of Keewatin and Mackenzie alone, would equal or exceed all the railway mileage in the United States.

In contrast to the narrow ridges, the broader hilltops in the Barrens offer such freedom of movement to the Caribou that trails are much less likely to be formed in such places, even when they are frequented by large numbers of the animals. Thus I found the broad summit of Josie's Hill practically without well-defined trails, despite the regularity with which many migrant bands resort thither. In feeding or traveling over such an area, there is no occasion for restricting themselves to a narrow course. In crossing from one ridge to another through an intervening bog, the animals may leave numerous scattered and temporary trails in the dense sedge growth to mark their passage (fig. 13). On the uniform surface of such a bog, as on the broad hilltops, there is no need to confine their steps to any particular course.

It might be supposed that the Barren Ground Caribou would have some reluctance in entering thickly wooded tracts, where Wolves naturally have a much better chance of a close approach than on the open Barrens. As already stated, however, their trails may be found more or less throughout the spruce and tamarack growth in the Windy River area. One of these tracts, covering probably several square miles on the west side of Four-hill Creek, is fairly crisscrossed with trails. At deep dusk on October 2, while several of us were skinning a Black Bear in this thick timber, about five does and fawns trotted up quite close to us. Perhaps they were on their way to the open Barrens to pass the night. While wintering in the forested Hudsonian Zone, the animals may spend their nights as well as their diurnal resting periods on the frozen lakes and rivers.

Fred Schweder, Jr., says that Caribou are somewhat fearful of sand hills or eskers, and that he has never seen one lying down in such a place; he believes this is because the Wolves frequent the eskers in summertime. On the other hand, Mr. G. W. Malaher spoke of a long esker that extends down the west side of Nueltin Lake and far to the southward; this, he said, forms a migration highway for the Caribou.

_References on habitats and trails._--J. B. Tyrrell, 1892: 129, and 1895: 445; W. J. McLean, 1901: 6; Blanchet, 1925: 33, and 1926a: 73, 96-97; Mallet, 1926: 79, 80; Seton, 1929, +3+: 100-102, 122, 127-128; Jacobi, 1931: 186-187; Ingstad, 1933: 86; Murie, 1939: 246; Manning, 1948: 26-28; Rand, 1948a: 212; Harper, 1949: 226, 228; Banfield, 1951a: 3.

_Influence of weather on distribution_

In the section on _Migrations_ the meteorological conditions in 1947 have been reported for any possible bearing they may have had on the daily movements of the Caribou, particularly during the fall migration. The temperature has an important effect on the activity of the insect pests (see _Influence of insects on distribution_) and thus, to a certain extent during summer and fall, on the behavior and probably the distribution of the Caribou.

Low winter temperatures on the Barren Grounds do not appear to be a factor of prime importance in the seasonal distribution of _R. a. arcticus_. "Some individuals and small herds remain in the northern part of the range at all seasons" (R. M. Anderson, 1947: 178). Peary's Caribou (_R. pearyi_) inhabits the more northerly Arctic islands throughout the year, without engaging in such extensive migrations as its relative to the south.

The forceful winds that blow over the Barren Grounds so much of the time are of distinct benefit to the Caribou during the summer in abating the very serious scourge of flies. If other things were equal (as they are not), this factor alone would make the Barrens a more favorable summer habitat than the forested country. (See _Retrograde autumnal movement_.) Air movements of similar strength during the winter must, through the wind-chill factor (_cf._ Siple and Passel, 1945), make life so much the harder for any living being; on the other hand, they tend to sweep the ridges bare of snow, thereby making readily available the Caribou's principal winter food of reindeer lichens (_Cladonia_ spp.)

_References._--Armstrong, 1857: 479; Critchell-Bullock, 1930: 192, 194-196; Hoare, 1930: 33; Jacobi, 1931: 193, 195; Clarke, 1940: 96, 99; Banfield, 1951a: 27-29.

_Influence of food supply on distribution_

The strong winter winds on the Barrens affect the Caribou in still another way. While they pack the snow so firmly that man may dispense with snowshoes, this condition naturally increases the difficulty that the Caribou experience in pawing through the snow to reach the lichens that are covered by it. The limited grazing capacity of such areas as are laid bare by the wind may force a reduction in the wintering population. Although the snow in the timbered regions to the south covers virtually the whole surface of the land, it is evidently less compact and so offers more favorable feeding conditions than the areas of hard-packed snow on the Barrens. (Charles Schweder states that Willow Ptarmigan will fly out of the Barrens to spend the night in tracts of timber, where the snow is softer and thus more suitable for the nocturnal burrows of these birds.)

Another apparent inducement for resorting to the tracts of timber in winter is the abundance there of tree lichens, such as _Alectoria_ and _Usnea_ (_cf._ Richardson, 1829: 243; J. B. Tyrrell, 1894: 441; Dix, 1951: 287), upon which the Caribou may feed without regard to snow conditions. (See also _Retrograde autumnal movement_.)

Reindeer lichens (_Cladonia_ spp.) and doubtless other lichens are of such slow growth that forest fires may deprive the Caribou of this indispensable food for a period of years. According to Mr. G. W. Malaher, the recent burning of a large area north of The Pas may have deflected the animals toward the southeast, causing them to extend their migration to an abnormal distance in that direction. For a similar reason in years past, according to Pike (1917 [1892]: 50), they avoided "great stretches of the country" near the Mackenzie River, and also on the south side of Great Slave Lake. A quarter of a century after Pike's time, Dogribs reported that Caribou had not come to the lower Taltson River for several years, "because the timber had been burned off" (Harper, 1932: 30). Some years ago, extensive fires in Manitoba were said to have been deliberately set by prospectors with the aim of exposing the underlying rock.

Charles Schweder believes that the Caribou show a certain predilection for rocky places, owing to the more luxuriant growth of lichens there.

_References._--Richardson, "1825": 328-329; Bompas, 1888: 24; Pike, 1917 (1892): 50; Wheeler, 1914: 60; Blanchet, 1930: 52; Jacobi, 1931: 192, 194, 195; Harper, 1932: 30; Ingstad, 1933: 34, 161, 163; Hornby, 1934: 105; R. M. Anderson, 1938: 400; Clarke, 1940: 100, 106-107; G. M. Allen, 1942: 299; Downes, 1943: 261; Porsild, 1943: 389; Wright, 1944: 186; R. M. Anderson, 1948: 15; Banfield, 1951a: 5, 11, 27-29.

_Influence of insects on distribution_

It is quite possible that the blood-sucking mosquitoes (_Aedes_) and black flies (_Simulium_) and the parasitic warble flies (_Oedemagena_) and nostril flies (_Cephenemyia_) have a definite and important influence on the extent and dates of caribou migration.

As far as I am able to judge from my own experience, mosquitoes are more or less equally numerous and ferocious in the Canadian, the Hudsonian, and the Arctic Zones of the Northwest. Naturally the season begins earlier in the more southerly localities. In two seasons (1914, 1920) at the western end of Lake Athabaska they began to be troublesome about the middle of June, whereas at Nueltin Lake this stage was reached about the first of July. In the Athabaska and Great Slave lakes region (Canadian and Hudsonian Zones) I have never had occasion to regard black flies as serious in respect to either numbers or ferocity; but there is universal agreement that conditions are vastly different and worse on the Barren Grounds. At Nueltin Lake the _Simulium_ hordes become troublesome at approximately the same time as the mosquitoes. Toward the end of August there is a merciful diminution in the numbers of both mosquitoes and black flies on the Barrens, and after the first of September they may be practically disregarded, except on an occasional day of unseasonable warmth.

It may be remarked in passing that one of the insect terrors of the Athabaska region, the so-called "bulldog" (a species of Tabanidae), did not come to my attention as a pest at Nueltin Lake though I collected two species of _Tabanus_. Malloch (1919), in reporting on the Diptera of the Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913-18, does not include a single species of Tabanidae. On the other hand, Twinn (1950: 18) states that 17 species have been found at Churchill; he refers to tabanids as "very abundant in forested regions of the North." The "bulldog" may be presumed to contribute to the summer misery of the Woodland Caribou and the Moose as well as of man.

The season during which the adult warble flies and nostril flies harass the Caribou probably lasts only a few weeks in July and August. While the adults evidently cause no pain, they no doubt arouse an instinctive dread in the prospective hosts of their larvae. While I have no information as to whether they follow the hosts into the wooded country, it would appear quite likely that they do so if we are to credit statements by Franklin (1823: 242), Richardson (1829: 251), and B. R. Ross (1861: 438) that these pests infest the Woodland Caribou as well as the Barren Ground species. Furthermore, _Cephenemyia_ has been reported in Pennsylvania as a parasite of the White-tailed Deer (_Odocoileus_) (Stewart, 1930?). The scarcity of available study material may be judged from the fact that the Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913-18 secured only three adults of _Oedemagena_ and none of _Cephenemyia_ (Malloch, 1919: 55-56).

From the foregoing it may be seen that the wooded country represents a virtually fly-free haven for the Barren Ground Caribou during nearly ten months of the year. Is it any wonder, then, that they hasten throughout August toward or into the shelter of the woods, to gain freedom from the winged scourges of the Barrens? (See also _Retrograde autumnal movement_.)

In the spring migration of 1947 the last of the Caribou passed the Windy River area on July 1, just before the mosquitoes and black flies had become seriously troublesome. It might be surmised that the animals keep marching northward in advance of the appearance of these flies, as long as that is feasible; and that when fairly overwhelmed by the winged hordes, they desist from further progress in that direction. The fawns are born at such a time (in late May or June) as to pass their first few tender weeks before becoming subject to serious insect attacks.

(See also _Retrograde autumnal movement_; _Relations to flies_.)

_References._--Richardson, "1825": 328-329; Hoare, 1930: 33, 37-38; Jacobi, 1931: 193-195; Soper, 1936: 429; Hamilton, 1939: 247, 301; Clarke, 1940: 95-96; Porsild, 1943: 389; Banfield, 1951a: 27-29.

_Effect of combined environmental factors on distribution_

The sum total of environmental factors apparently makes the Barren Grounds a distinctly more favorable summer habitat for the present species than the wooded country, since the latter region is virtually entirely deserted at that season. In general, the wooded country must be a more favorable winter habitat, since the bulk of the animals evidently resort to it at that time; yet its advantages are by no means clear-cut or overwhelming, since a very considerable proportion of the Caribou elect to spend the winter on the Barrens (Hanbury, 1904: 93, 120, 139; Hoare, 1930: 22; Clarke, 1940: 8-9, 11, fig. 4; Anonymous, 1952: 267).

_Relations to man_

The Caribou dominates the thoughts, the speech, and the general human activities of the Barren Grounds. As the chief food resource of that region and the adjacent timbered country, it plays a highly important role in the economy of both primitive and civilized man. As long as those regions were occupied only by native Eskimos and Indians, employing such primitive weapons as bows and spears, the species was in no danger. Its vast numbers were maintained steadily from generation to generation, and were perhaps limited only by the grazing or browsing capacity of their range.

With the advent of civilized man and the placing of firearms in the hands of the natives, the situation has deteriorated at a rate that becomes accelerated with the passage of time. If it had not been for the encroachment of civilization and the introduction of its instruments of destruction, the natives would have been assured of a proper meat supply for an indefinite period. Here and there some of them would miss a caribou migration and starve to death; yet the animals have been so generally available that many of the natives even today lack the foresight to put up an adequate supply of fish as an alternative winter food.

Almost everywhere the annual slaughter is both excessive and wasteful. Few inhabitants of the North, whether native or white, stay their hands while Caribou are present and ammunition is available. There is undue reliance on a continuation of past abundance, and an indifference to the welfare or rights of posterity. The whole culture of the inland Eskimos and the northern Indians (the Caribou-eater Chipewyans in particular) is so thoroughly based upon Caribou that the decimation of these animals would mean a fundamental modification or virtual extermination of their culture.

The average trapper of the Barren Grounds apparently aims at killing annually at least 100 Caribou. Only a small portion is required to feed himself and his family. The rest is designed for use as fox bait and dog feed. In September he goes over his trap-line, perhaps 100 miles long, and endeavors to kill Caribou at convenient intervals throughout its length. (In October, 1944, a single trapper killed 90 during two days of a big movement.) The animals are left where they fall. Presently spells of warm weather may render the meat unsuitable for any one with more fastidious tastes than a hardy man of the Barrens. In any event, the beasts of the field evidently get the lion's share, even when the trapper endeavors to cover the carcasses with rocks or spruces. Bears, Wolves, Foxes, Weasels, Wolverines, Lemmings, Rough-legged Hawks, Ravens, and Canada Jays help themselves to the free feast. Bears in particular are likely to consume the whole carcass; in the autumns of 1944 and 1947 they thus disposed of about 70 and 40 caribou bodies, respectively, within a few miles of the Windy River post. If the season turns out to be a particularly poor one for Arctic Foxes, the trapper may abandon his trap-line for that winter, and dozens or scores of Caribou will have been sacrificed in vain.

Fish, which are available in abundance nearly everywhere, would serve well enough for both fox bait and dog feed. But the average trapper prefers to secure Caribou--a less laborious matter than putting up a winter's supply of fish; at the same time he may admit that fish are easier to handle in feeding and are preferable from that point of view. Charles Schweder has rarely found Caribou along his trap-line between the upper Kazan River and Dubawnt Lake. By using fish (out of the Little Dubawnt River) for fox bait, he avoids the necessity of making an early fall trip over that long distance to secure Caribou for his winter operations. A trapper from northern Manitoba informed me that the local Indians were complying with a recent government regulation that each owner must put up a certain number of fish for the consumption of his dogs--but, they were still feeding them with Caribou. The Split Lake band of Indians on the Nelson River, Manitoba, were reported to have killed 4,000 of the animals during the winter of 1946-47; the greater part of these were utilized ingloriously as dog feed.

The hunting of such an extraordinarily unwary animal as the Barren Ground Caribou calls for extremely little skill. Scarcely anything more is required of the hunter (at least in southwestern Keewatin) than to place himself on their line of march and to await their arrival. No concealment is necessary, but quick movements are to be avoided, and the direction of the wind should be such that it will not carry the dread human scent to the animals. Even in perfectly open terrain one may generally walk slowly up to within shooting distance of resting Caribou. But if they are on the march and have already gone past, the hunter may not succeed in getting close to them. Pursuing them on the run is likely to send them off in a panic. (There is some evidence that on the Arctic Coast and in the Barren Grounds of Mackenzie, where hunters are probably more numerous than in southwestern Keewatin, the Caribou are usually much more wary--_cf._ Amundsen, 1908, +1+: 103; Stefánsson, 1913b: 278; Blanchet, 1925: 34; Ingstad, 1933: 88.) In the section on _Disposition_ the destruction of about a quarter of a herd of 100 or more by a single hunter is described. On September 9 an Eskimo boy killed 13. On November 3 eight out of a herd of 50 were secured by another hunter in a few minutes' time. During the autumn migration of 1947 one of the Eskimos on the upper Kazan had killed 85 before the end of September. This band of Eskimos is said to have once slaughtered 500 animals, half of them in the river, where they did not even bother to pull them out; they had killed for the sheer delight of killing rather than for utilization. It is customary for them to spear more animals than they shoot. A trader's family in the Nueltin Lake region used to kill 500 Caribou per year for their own use and for their 23 dogs. In one instance a number of Caribou were shot from across a river; several hours elapsed before a canoe became available, and by that time the bodies were frozen so stiff that no attempt was made to use them. It was reported that tractor crews operating between Reindeer Lake and Flin Flon brought out many hind quarters to sell illegally at the latter point, leaving other parts of the bodies along the way. In the winter of 1944-45 Nueltin Lake was said to have been covered with the bodies of Caribou that the Chipewyans had shot for "fun" and had neglected to utilize. It was also reported that in May, 1947, there were many neglected bodies in the vicinity of Duck Lake, the local Chipewyans having killed the animals during the previous fall; meanwhile the spring migration had commenced and was furnishing all the fresh meat required.

In the Windy River area nearly all the Caribou were secured with rifles. A few, however, were speared by the Eskimo boy as they swam across Windy Bay. The spears used here are manufactured articles of iron, fitted to a wooden shaft.

Katello, a Kazan River Eskimo, informed Charles Schweder that his people used to construct snow-covered pits for the Caribou to fall into. The present generation is considered too lazy to undertake such a task. Although information is lacking in the present case, urine may have been employed to entice the Caribou into these pits, as reported by Hanbury (1904: 114-115, 123, fig.).

A general deterioration of antler size in the Barren Ground Caribou seems to constitute a case parallel with that of the European Red Deer (_Cervus elaphus elaphus_). The reason is evidently the same in each case--the long-continued selection by hunters of old males with the best "heads." Only the motive differs decidedly in each case: the European hunter looks upon the antlers themselves as the main prize; the Eskimo and the Indian are indifferent to these ornaments, but realize that the bucks with great antlers provide the most meat and _fat_. The bucks are said to become much fatter than the does. The Eskimos are especially keen on getting the big bucks. According to Charles Schweder, the old antlers left at the river crossings from bygone days are superior in size to those of the present day. He himself has never secured a set of antlers equal to one (fig. 25) lying on the shore of Simons' Lake; it may have been there for 20 or 30 years prior to 1947.