In stepping across a shallow rapid in peaceful surroundings, the
rhythmic splashings of the water to the front and the sides of the
alternately descending hoofs make a scene of rare charm. In moving
through deeper water, where the bottom is rough, rocky, and slippery,
the animals may pick their way quite slowly. When alarmed near the
water’s edge from some such cause as detecting a human scent, they may
make great splashing leaps into a river or bay, fairly enveloping
themselves in huge clouds of spray. There can be few more spirited
scenes of animal life in the North.
I have seen several of the animals running with open mouths, even when
they had gone no more than a quarter of a mile from a point of alarm.
Every now and then a Caribou will be seen limping--perhaps from wounds,
perhaps because of a leg sprained in rough terrain.
_References._--Lyon, 1824: 67; Osborn, 1865: 227; Russell, 1895:
50, and 1898: 90; Hanbury, 1904: 131; Nelson, 1916: 460;
Buchanan, 1920: 126; Stefánsson, 1921: 248; Blanchet, 1925: 33,
and 1926b: 47; Critchell-Bullock, 1930: 193; Sutton and
Hamilton, 1932: 83; Ingstad, 1933: 87; Murie, 1939: 245; Downes,
1943: 236-237; Harper, 1949: 226, 229; Banfield, 1951a: 21.
_Tracks_
Caribou trails, resulting from the impact of countless hoofs on the same
restricted courses for unnumbered years, have been discussed in the
section on _Ecology_. The placing of the feet has been touched upon in
the section on _Gaits_. The individual tracks remain to be considered.
Each of two foot-prints photographed in mud was approximately 4 inches
(102 mm.) long and 4½ inches (114 mm.) wide. Another such photograph
(fig. 19) shows tracks about 114 by 95 and 102 by 102 mm. The foot
sketched by Seton (1929, +3+: 129) is obviously a front foot, though not
so labeled; the hoofs as drawn are approximately 89 and 93 mm. in
length; the width of the foot is approximately 100 mm.
A track (fig. 20) photographed in 2-inch snow represents a hind
foot-print superimposed upon a front foot-print in a walking gait;
including the marks of the dew claws, it was approximately 6 inches (153
mm.) long and 5 inches (127 mm.) wide. The “square-toed” appearance is
very characteristic.
A front hoof is a little broader as well as longer than a hind hoof
(fig. 24). The extreme and average lengths of the front hoofs in five of
my adult male specimens are 80-92 (85.2); of the hind hoofs, 74-84.5
(79.8). In an adult doe a front hoof measures 77; a hind hoof, 72.
_Reference._--Banfield, 1951a: 19.
_Swimming_
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