Charles Schweder spoke of having seen whole herds lying down to rest,
while none of the animals remained standing up on guard. He had noted
one such herd of 600 or 700 along the Thlewiaza River in August. He
further stated that when the Caribou lie down to rest and to chew the
cud, they hold the head up. They may also sleep in this position. In the
hard winter of 1944-45, when the snow was deep and the animals were
tired and hungry, he came up to a resting herd. All but one of them got
up and moved away. That one remained sleeping, head up and eyes closed;
Charles walked up to within 10 feet and shot it. He has also seen
resting Caribou lay their heads down on the side, but only for a few
moments at a time.
_References._--J. B. Tyrrell, 1892: 129; Jones, 1899: 359;
Harper, 1949: 227; Banfield, 1951a: 23.
_Organization of herds_
The Barren Ground Caribou is a distinctly gregarious species. It goes in
herds for at least the greater part of the year; this is especially true
of the spring and autumn migration periods and of the winter months. We
know comparatively little of the behavior of the does at fawning time in
June; but probably there is a tendency toward solitariness on their part
at that season. It is true that solitary Caribou may be met with at
almost any season of the year; but this doubtless represents merely
temporary rather than permanent segregation of such individuals. At the
very end of the spring migration and at the beginning of the autumn
migration, there may be, among the sparse southernmost elements of the
population, a larger proportion of solitary animals.
While marching over the Barrens and feeding as they go, the smaller
bands maintain a fairly loose organization, as apparently best suiting
their needs. On the other hand, the huge herds of former times, such as
the Tyrrells met on the upper Dubawnt in 1893 (J. B. Tyrrell, 1897:
49-50, pl. 1; J. W. Tyrrell, 1908: pls. facing pp. 80, 81; Seton, 1929,
+3+: pl. 22), obviously maintained very compact ranks. In my limited
experience, the animals bunched more closely in crossing the rivers than
was normally the case on land among feeding herds. While swimming, they
would follow each other in files at minimum intervals; but in stepping
across rapids they might extend these intervals somewhat.
When merely covering ground, without stopping to feed, or when following
a trail through brush or along a narrow ridge, there is a strong
tendency for the animals to go in a single file, or at least in a
procession many times longer than wide. This was also apparent when they
were crossing the ice of Windy Bay in June.
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