Reindeer Behavior
Reindeers are energetic and spirited animals. They possess combination of shyness and curiosity on their environment. When reindeers are alarmed the adult usually moan and their fawns grunt. But nevertheless they are spirited animals blessed with a beautiful winter coat. Caribou are said to be difficult to chase but once caught they easily follow their master and can be handled easily. Domesticated reindeers are usually very gentle but during rutting when bulls can become dangerous.
Reindeers do not usually wander from one place to another of different areas because they rather stroll from place to place. On taking this journey of migrations they usually swim rivers, lakes and streams. A research says that a reindeer can make a travel up to 37 miles per hour over a daily distance of about 96 miles.
In the past, reindeers are gathered in group of hundreds and thousands so they can fully migrate from treeless area to forest or timber areas. Most of the summer time, the tundra reindeer stay near on the coast of the Arctic Ocean but once the winter comes in they immediately start to migrate in forest nearby country. Caribou when making their migrations usually followed the same routes every year. The reason on this the same route is because the herds are capable of using trails or marks. The trails they left are said to be very visible on the ground as well as from the air.
In general, reindeer and caribou are highly sociable and outgoing animals but there are certain periods of season when they are sexually segregated. During summer adult male reindeers are isolated from the females and young calves and will only join the herds during the time of rutting that occurs in September and October. The male reindeer usually shed off their antlers after the period of rutting. Their antlers grew back sometime in April. The female reindeers retain their antlers during the winter and they shed off only after giving birth to their young reindeer.
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06.06.2006.