Re: The Neolithic/Mesolithic Boundary(4) Climatic Instability Gives way to Stability

In sci.archaeology message
news:tt4vf2tksv0pj94daf0a4eb2ioqbidc942@xxxxxxx by Eric Stevens
<eric.stevens@xxxxxxxxx> . . . :


On Thu, 07 Sep 2006 01:56:27 GMT, prd <X_header@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

In sci.archaeology message news:87pse8momz.fld@xxxxxxxxxx by
floyd@xxxxxxxxxx (Floyd L. Davidson) . . . :

"Peter Alaca" <P.Alaca@xxxxxx> wrote:
prd wrote:
This means that they are not concentrated in one single
site suitable for year round hunting.
Do you know anything about Reindeer/Caribou and their
hunters?
I know alot about reindeer. Did you know what the major
difference between Reindeer and Caribou is?

Yes.

From reading through this thread, I got the opinion that
neither of you probably do actually know what the difference
is...

I was in a small aircraft (a Cessna 207) about 50 miles
southeast of Nome some 20 years ago when the pilot explained
to me the *exact* difference between a reindeer and a caribou.
That is an important point to know in that area because there
is the Western Arctic Caribou here, with more than 400,000
animals, and then there are several privately owned reindeer
herds too.

Hence if you are flying along like that and spot a few
animals, you have to look around them to determine which it
is.

If there are no people within sight (camps, snowmachine,
whatever) and if there is a place to land the airplane (snow
if it has skis, water if has floats, gravel bar if it has
wheels, etc. etc)... then the animals are *clearly* caribou.

If you can't land or if somebody is watching, they are
reindeer.

That of course is not true here on the North Slope of Alaska.
(They are *all* caribou!!!)

Whatever, it would be entertaining no doubt to hear what
either or both of you think the difference between reindeer
and caribou are.

Someone forgot to read my headers. ROFL. Stevens, help them out,
what is the major difference between reindeer and caribou?

http://tinyurl.com/h8xs6

Hooray! but I thought my explanation was alot shorter.

From: prd <X_header@xxxxxxxxxxx>
. . . . .
X-answer: Caribou don't fly

Just to help Peter out however.

"
Spring finds the herd feeding on succulent new vegetation; grasses,
sedges, flowering plants, horsetails and the leaves of willows.
"

"
Caribou are well adapted to winter conditions. To cope with
scarcities and hardships they reduce food intake and lower their
metabolic rate. Lichens (including "reindeer moss") are their most
important winter food. Caribou shift winter ranges from year to
year, which minimizes overgrazing. Since heavy snow or ice
conditions can make it difficult to dig down to food, they often
winter in forested areas where snow cover may be less and lichens
growing on trees can be eaten.
"

Unlike buffulo and cattle, that are mostly dependent on grasses
(cattle are known also to eat from trees particularly soft seeds
of legumacious trees like mesquite) caribou also can feed on the
tundra and lichens and this contrast them with other grazing
animals.

.

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