Adapted from “The Red Book of Animal Stories.” Copyright, 1899, by
Longmans, Green, & Company. Used by permission.
nourishing excellent sinews immense
delicacy especially crevices sociable
[Illustration]
There is perhaps no other animal in the world so useful as the reindeer,
at least none that can be put to so many uses. The flesh of a sheep is
eaten, and its wool is woven into cloth; but then we should never think
of harnessing a sheep even to a baby carriage. A camel serves, in the
desert, the purpose of a van and of a riding horse in one, and his hair
makes warm garments; but he would give us a very ill-tasting dinner, and
the same may be said of some other useful creatures. A reindeer, however,
is good to eat, and makes an excellent steed; its milk is nourishing;
the softer parts of its horns, when properly prepared, are considered
a delicacy; the bones are turned to account as tools; the sinews are
twisted into thread, and, all the long winter, the skin and hair keep the
dwellers in the far North snug and warm. Take away the reindeer, and the
inhabitants of every country north of latitude 60° would feel as helpless
as we should in England if there were no more sheep or cows!
Reindeer live, by choice, on the slopes of mountains, and require no
better food than the moss, or little alpine plants, which they find
growing in the crevices of the rock. Sometimes, in very cold places, or
when the winter is particularly severe, they take shelter in the forest;
but when spring is in the air once more, out they come in great herds,
thin and sore from the bites of newly awakened insects, and wander away in
search of fresher pasture. In August and September, when the sun has grown
too strong for them, they seek the shade of the woods again.
In their wild state reindeer are great travelers, and as they are very
strong, and excellent swimmers, they go immense distances, especially the
reindeer of North America, who will cross the ice to Greenland in the
early part of the year, and stay there till the end of October, when they
come back to their old quarters. They are most sociable creatures, and are
never happy unless they have three or four hundred companions, while herds
of a thousand have sometimes been counted. The females and calves are
always placed in front, and the big bucks bring up the rear, to see that
nobody falls out of the ranks from weakness.
Like many animals that live in the North, the color of the reindeer is
different in winter from what it is in summer. Twice a year he changes his
coat, and the immense thick covering which has been so comfortable all
through the fierce cold, begins to fall in early spring and a short hair
to take its place, so that by the time summer comes, he is nice and cool,
and looks quite another creature from what he did in the winter. As the
days shorten and grow frosty, the coat becomes longer and closer, and by
the time the first snow falls the deer is quite prepared to meet it.
Though reindeer prefer mountain sides when they can get them, their broad
and wide-cleft hoofs are well adapted for the lowlands of the North of
Europe and of America, which are a morass in summer and a snow-field in
winter. Here are to be seen whole herds of them, either walking with a
regular rapid step, or else going at a quick trot; but in either case
always making a peculiar crackling noise with their feet.
They have an acute sense of smell, and will detect a man at a distance of
five or six hundred paces, and as their eyes are as good as their ears,
the huntsman has much ado to get up to them. They are dainty in their
food, choosing out only the most delicate of the alpine plants, and their
skins cannot be as tough as they look, for they are very sensitive to the
bites of mosquitoes, gnats, and particularly of midges.
Reindeer are very cautious, as many hunters have found to their cost;
but they are ready to be friendly with any cows or horses they may come
across, and this must make the task of taming them a great deal easier.
They have their regular hours for meals, too, and early in the mornings
and late in the evenings may be seen going out for their breakfasts and
suppers, which, in summer, consist, in the highlands, of the leaves and
flowers of the snow ranunculus, reindeer sorrel, a favorite kind of
grass, and, better than all, the young shoots of the dwarf birch. In the
afternoons they lie down and rest, and choose for their place of repose a
patch of snow, or a glacier if one is at hand.
In Norway and Lapland great herds of reindeer may be seen, during the
summer, wandering along the banks of rivers, or making for the mountains,
returning with the approach of winter to their old quarters. With the
first snow fall they are safe under shelter, for this is the time when
wolves are most to be feared. In the spring they are let loose again, and
are driven carefully to some spot which is freer from midges than the
rest. And so life goes on from year to year.
Reindeer herding is by no means so easy as it looks, and it would be quite
impossible, even to a Lapp, if it were not for the help of dogs, who are
part of the family. They are small creatures, hardly as big as a Spitz,
and very thin, with close compact hair all over their bodies. These dogs
are very obedient, and understand every movement of their master’s eyelid.
They will not only keep the herd together on land, but follow them into a
river, or across an arm of the sea. It is they who rescue the weaklings
in danger of drowning, after their winter’s fast, and in the autumn, when
the reindeer have grown strong from good living, drive the herd back again
through the bay.
A herd of reindeer on the march is a beautiful sight to see. They go
quickly along, faster than any other domestic animal, and are kept
together by the herdsman and his dogs, who are untiring in their efforts
to bring up stragglers.
When a good stretch of pasture is found, the Lapps build a fold, into
which the reindeer are driven every evening, so that the work of the
milkers may be lightened. These folds are made of the stems of birches
placed close together and strengthened with cross-pieces and strong props.
They are about seven feet high, and have two wide doors. At milking time,
which the dogs know as well as the men, the animals are driven inside by
their faithful guardians, and milking begins busily. The young ones are
generally left outside under the watchful eyes of the dogs, who see that
they do not wander too far away.
Inside the fold the noise is really deafening. The reindeer run to and
fro, giving loud cries and throwing their heads about; which, as their
horns are very big, is not pleasant for the milkers. Any one walking
that way would be struck, first, with the sound of the commotion in the
inclosure, and this would most likely be followed by a crackling noise, as
if a hundred electric batteries were at work at once.
In the middle of the fold are thick tree trunks to which the reindeer
which have to be milked are fastened, for without these they would not
stand still one single instant.
The milkers have a thong which is thrown round the neck of the animal, and
drawn closer till it is tied by a slip noose over the creature’s mouth, so
as to prevent it from biting. Then the ends are made secure to the milking
block, and the milking begins--the animal all the while struggling hard to
get free. But the Lapps know how to manage them, and only draw the cord
tighter over the nose, so that the creatures are bound in self-defense to
remain quiet.
The milk flows into a sort of large bowl with handles, but the Lapps are
both careless and dirty in their ways, and not only waste a great deal of
the milk, but leave so many hairs in it that it is necessary to strain it
through a cloth before it can be drunk. However, the milk itself is very
good. The milking once over, the doors are opened, and the animals scamper
out joyously.
All together, the life of the owner of a herd of reindeer cannot be said
to be an idle one. Yet he is in general well satisfied with his lot, and
thinks himself the most fortunate man in the world.
--A. LANG.