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Caribou is one of the species of North American deer that grow and shed antlers every year. Caribou is another name for the undomesticated wild reindeer that migrate across the northernmost regions of North America. Caribou or reindeer are members of the deer family which in North America includes moose, elk and whitetail deer. The males of all of these species have antlers, which are not the same as horns. Deer are unique mammals because the males shed their antlers at the beginning of winter and regrow them in the spring. Caribou are even more unusual because both males and females grow antlers but female caribou shed their antlers in the spring.
Caribou antlers are something of hybrid between elk antlers and moose antlers. Caribou antlers are long, slender and branching like elk antlers but also have wide features similar to the palmate antlers of the moose. Caribou have an additional forward piece of antler called a shovel that protrudes over the face. It is called a shovel because of its shape and the shovel looks somewhat like the wide ends of the moose antler. While moose are the largest North American deer and also have the largest antlers, the magnificent length and breadth of caribou antlers make them the largest antlers relative to body size of any deer. A single caribou antler can reach 53 inches (135 cm) in overall length and 39 inches (100 cm) at its wide top.
Caribou in North America are constantly migrating except when they spend the brief arctic summer at their northern calving grounds. As soon as the calves are sturdy enough to travel, the caribou herds begin their journey south before the severe winter weather sets in. Caribou travel more extensively than any other mammal, some 3,100 miles (5,000 km) per year. Fortunately there is a ready supply of lichens on the open tundra that caribou use as their primary source of food.
Domesticated caribou are usually called reindeer and native people in North America, Europe and Asia have been managing their reindeer herds for centuries. Domesticated reindeer provide food, shelter, clothing and transportation for native people even today. Even though modern native people may have a snowmobile for transportation, they continue to rely on the reindeer as part of their lifestyle. They even use the shed reindeer antlers as a cash crop sold to craftsmen who use them for artistic purposes.
Alan B. Stables is a freelance writer on alternative agriculture, has organized alternative agriculture events and has also been a guest speaker in Brazil, China, Egypt, Italy, Latvia and Spain, on how to market agricultural produce for maximum returns.
In addition to writing on deer farming, Alan also writes articles on alpaca farming and other alternative farming projects.
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