Bitterroot Outdoor Journal
The Bitterroot Outdoor Journal took a holiday turn this week with Bob Danley comparing caribou (often called reindeer) with our own elk herds (see photo above). There are 14 species of caribou worldwide, while there are only four subspecies of elk, mainly in North America. Elk are much larger than caribou and only the male elk have antlers.
Caribou can be found in woodlands and, up north, in tundra. Both sexes have antlers and those antlers are the largest horns relative to the animal size of any in the world. Caribou are about 55 inches tall, weighing about 350 to 400 pounds. Interesting fact - they are the only deer species that have been domesticated (as Santa knows!). Another thing Bob found in his research is that they have ankle tendons that click when they walk and their hooves are soft in the summer and hard in the winter, to handle the ice. Their migration distance is the longest of any animal on Earth - 3,000 miles.