Caribou in Springt to Summer

On our trip down and then up the Al-CAn in March and April, it seemed all we could see was caribou.
We saw a few more in June, on our final trip down form Alaska.

Boy, do their antlers grow!
Here are some in March.

 Some have antlers in early Spring , some do not.

Both females and males get them in Summer. Female's are smaller.
Both shed them after the rut.
But females that did not get pregnant, keep their antlers throughout the winter.
Males start growing them earlier in the Spring than females.

Obviously the picture above is a caribou cow .
(See it's white mame or fur on it's neck? Otherwise it looks like a beef cow.)

How about these?

The one with bigger antlers are probably males, since this is from mid March.
But, even females will get them towards summer.


Compare them to these pics in the middle of June.

No, this is not a Texas Longhorn cow that I mixed up.
Its a real Caribou in Denali National Park.
Here are a few others to convince you.

See that they have an additional (smaller) set of antlers, pointing forward, closer to the middle of the head?

And here are some enjoying a patch of snow and ice that still remained despite mid June's 85 degrees. They are searchingfor lichen under the snow.

When compared to the March pics: pretty fast antler growth, don't you agree?

And here are 2 close ups, also in June.

See the furry growth over their antler?

I hear that at sometime of the year there are so many blood vessels that the furry stuff is actually red! That's how much blood and nutrition it takes to make them grow so fast.

And incidentally, I saw a skull with huge supra-orbital nerve foramen just above their eye. I guess there is a lot of nerves sensation to the antler that must help them walk through the brush.
( Incidentally, for those budding biologists, did you remember that this is the V1 nerve branch?)

Now, what's the difference between Caribou and Reindeer? Not much. The reindeer is smaller. They can interbreed just fine. Reindeer is a domesticated form they brought to Alaska in the 1880-90s and again in the 1930's. The goal was to have the Natives raise them as staple to feed themselves and sell for profit. But, apparently that just was not the appropriate thing to do, according to Natives. You should let animals go free and shoot only what you need. But now there is again a small push to herd and market the meat, due to the bad reputation that beef has in some people's mind.

As far as their meat, there was a TV program on an Alaskan TV network talking about how good it is for nutrition as well as taste. It is a delicacy. But you must know how to cook it just right. Don't let it brown or even lose its color...or it'll be really tough. It is done when it's texture is only as firm as the muscle of your hand, just below the thumb! If you cook it this way, you'll appreciate that it is indeed worth the nearly $ 40 per pound that it costs to produce it and send it to you in the Lower 48. ( I never tried it, that's just what I heard. Incidentally, the reindeer sausage they sell you is required to only have 10 or 15% reindeer; no wonder it tastes like beef sausage).

And....concerning their meat, there is a rumor I heard in Fairbanks that I have not been able to confirm. They claim a lady has been found with the highest recorded level of mercury in her serum, and she is an Alaskan Native. Apparently she eats nothing but caribou meat. And caribou love to eat lichen. And lichen live for 50 years, absorbing whatever is in the air. They are great at concentrating mercury! (But since I don't expect many of you are going to be eating much $ 40 per pound meat, I guess you really do not have to worry.)

One more thing: their fur:
With over 80 degree summers in inland Alaska, they shed their fur in summer as you'd expect. Here are some, again in mid June.

 







But is you get a chance to buy a winter fur, you will find that it is just the right size to cover you on a cold Alaskan night as you sit and read a book!

I highly recommend it. We have two! And they are not very expensive. You can buy them at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, about one hour south of Anchorage, near Portage Glacier, for $ 200. Or you can contact the Alaska Raw Fur Co. in Fairbanks, where they were charging only $ 125 and where you can get lots of other species, too. Check them out if you desire; they have furs, not fancy coats

PS To friends of PETA:
In AK, keeping warm during winter is a not a luxury or a whim.
It is a necessity.
That's just  the way it is.
And there is nothing better than a fur for that!