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CARIBOU HUNTING BY AEROPLANE

FOOD WEALTH IN THE BARREN LANDS A VAST MEAT SUPPLY (From the ."Times" Correspondent.) Toronto (by mail). A project to hunt enribou herds by ot-roplaiio lias been mooted in Canada. It-s chief advocate is Mr. W. H. P. Jarvis, who submits what seems to be rational arguments in support of his proposal. Hβ insists that by regulated slaughter of caribou the meat supply of Canada and Great Britain could be enormously increased, and the effects of depleted cattle herds measurably overIt is estimated that the Barren Lands of Canada contain 20,0(10,000 caribou. Mr. .1. B. Harkin, Commissioner of Dominion Parks, believes there may be 50,000,000. He is convinced that 5,000,000 bucks could be eliminated from the herds with only good results. Not long ago officers of the United States dispatch steamer General Jeff Davis, reported that they saw thousands of caribou swimming across the Yukon River 'between Eagle and Forty Mile Posts. At one time, Recording to one witness, between 3000 and 5000 could be seen from the decks of the steamer. ■ There were also uncounted thousands which had gone over the hills or wore on their way to the river. For three hours the steamer was navigated wijli difficulty among the swimming aniin.il>. Tha caribou congregated on islands in the river and along the river burs and swam on both sides o: the stream. Another witness declar- \ ed that he walked for twenty-one miles among the moving herds. "The mountains," he said, "seemed to bo alive and moving." Various other reports sustain the estimates of millions of caribou in the Barren Lands of Canada; Migration of the Caribou. ' Caribou, lnnsk oxen, bear?, wolves, and foxes have their home in the- Barren Lands. The caribou is tho reindeer in a wild state. In many ways he is superior to his domesticated brother. In tho spring tho caribou migrates to the north, passing even lo the Arctic Islands. In the autumn ha goes south and winters among the timber there. A herd may consist of half a dozen, or may run into millions, closely' packed ns are sheep when they are crowded into a corner by a dog. When in email bands the caribou easily takes fright, and is verv fleet of foot. In large herds he- is easily approached. The herds havo a tendency to segregate- according to sex— a herd of all bucks Is sometimes discovered. In autumn, when the' bucks roll in fat. their flesh is said to be superior to fine beei. The "back-fat" is a substitute for bacon, and alone sometimes weighs 401b. Caribou hide is better than reindeer hide for making gloves, and is generally valuable. The horns are used to make knifo handles. , ' A buck caribou weighs about 1001b., and in normal times should. be worth M at Port-Nelson. Wolves, which are very numerous, destroy the caribou in great numbers. In this they are aided by worthless Indian (loirs that rove tho Barren Lauds in eummer. , , Tho territory in which it Is suggested that caribou could-be taken lies west oi Hudson Bay and between the bay and the Mackenzie Hiver. A line drawn from Port Nelson (on tho shore of. Hudson Bay) to Lake Athabaska- would defino the. southern limit. Including the Arctio Islands, the area of this great territory may be estimated at 750,000 squaro miles. It is asserted that the weather in August and early .September is favourable for Hying, and that meat could bo kept without artificial refrigeration aiter tho middle of September. \ The surface of the area named consists, for the most part, of glacial moraine and drift, soil and sand m places, and in places muskeg. Innumerable lakes, largo and small, and at present uncharted, occur in wide distribution. Over.it grows grasses, mosses, licliens, and wild flowers. An altitude of 1000 ft. above the sea is seldom exceeded. In a general way, except in the south, the land may be said to bo devoid of timber, the more northerly portions completely so. The climate is very severe in winter. The port of Fort Churchill' (Hudson Bay) opens about the middle ot Juno and closes about tho middle of November. The email lakes in the southern limits freeze over at -the middle of October. Air Drovers. Mr. Jarvis suggests that air drovers should como south in the autumn, <mvo the caribou to tho shores of Hudson Bay and down along the coast and behind a strong fence built from a point above Port Nelson and extending for ten or twenty miles towards the north-west. Once secured between the sea and the fence men on horseback could segregate the sexes. The does could be let through .»ates to freedom while tho fat bucks could bo driven to tffe railway ana slaughtered. From 100,000 £400,000 would be realised. If airmen by lnachine-guus could destroy the wolves and worthless <lo"s tho hords would increase. It is stated that reindeer double in number in three years, and caribou would increase as rnpidly. " •V baso at Fort Churchill is suggested, where supplies might bo landed and the chief aerodrome established. A sub-tec could be provided on Lake Athabaska, .]■>!) miles to the west, to which supplies mHit be shipped by rail and water from Kdmonton, in Alberta, or be relayed from Fort Churchill by aeroplane. Depots tor supplies could be established throughout (ho country. . During the last months of the war the Canadian authorities gave .much attenliun to tho practicability of utilising caribou for food purposes, and if tho war had continued probably an experiment would have been sanctioned despite tt .■rait expense of marketing the meat. Tf any scheme for the slaughter of , caribou is undertaken the preservation ot tip wain herd will I>t a supremo corci'd»riit:oii, in- order that the story ot the'disappearance of the buffalo may.aot ho repeated. _

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19190514.2.86

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 196, 14 May 1919, Page 8

Word count
Tapeke kupu
969

CARIBOU HUNTING BY AEROPLANE Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 196, 14 May 1919, Page 8

CARIBOU HUNTING BY AEROPLANE Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 196, 14 May 1919, Page 8

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