November 11 was partly sunny; wind moderate to brisk, northerly; temperature, 3° to 6.5°; about 8 inches of snow on the average. Mike Schweder reported five does moving south across the mouth of Windy River on the ice.
Thereafter, until my departure on December 4, no more Caribou were actually seen in the vicinity of the headquarters on Windy River. There were, however, tracks of single animals on November 15 and 16. Moreover, during the period from about November 7 to 15, while traveling northward to the upper Kazan River, Charles Schweder saw thousands of Caribou, in herds up to 300, moving southward. He surmised that their course took them somewhere between Ennadai and Nueltin lakes. Fred also reported many to the northward on the 7th, as already noted. This was perhaps the last large migratory movement of the year in our general area. Thereafter virtually all of the animals were presumably in the timbered area to the southward. None was sighted from the plane during the flight to Churchill on December 4.
On November 7 the temperature had taken a sharp downward turn, dropping below zero for the first time that season; and it did not again rise above 6.5° till November 12. This cold spell, combined with a snow blizzard from the north on the 6th and 7th, coincided at least in part with the large migratory movement noted above, and it may have been the stimulus for it.
The general weather conditions that obtained from November 12 on may be summarized as follows. It was at least predominantly cloudy on all but four or five days. There was snowfall on six days, and drifting snow in the air on several other days. The winds were predominantly north, northwest, and west; less commonly, east and southeast. They were a little more frequently light than moderate or brisk. The extremes of temperature during this period were 22.5° and -23°; the average daily mean, approximately 1°. There was an average of probably at least 8 inches of snow on the ground, with deeper drifts. The river was not wholly frozen over at least up to the end of November.
[ Retrograde autumnal movement]
It would doubtless be difficult to find, among other animals, any exact parallel to this curious feature of caribou migration. According to Charles Schweder, it takes place in the Nueltin Lake region in September—sometimes as early as the first of the month. Herds up to 200 strong may then be seen moving northward, but generally the numbers are smaller—say 10 to 30 in a band. Some of the more notable autumnal movements toward the north, as reported by Charles, were the following: at Simons’ Lake in 1936 and again in 1938, when herds of fat bucks were streaming past for a month and a half; likewise at Josie’s Bay in 1940; and through the Windy Hills and across Windy River in 1943. Fred Schweder, Jr., said that most of the animals, in returning northward at this season, cross Windy River 4 miles above its mouth or Windy Bay 4 miles from its head; comparatively few pass the mouths of Windy and Little rivers. He remarked further that it is mostly bucks, with few does and fawns, that make the passage on Windy Bay.
More or less evidence of such a movement toward the north in 1947 has been presented in preceding pages, in the notes for September 6, 7, 11, 14, 20, 24, and 28, October 1, and even October 23. The numbers observed so involved on each of these days varied from a solitary buck or a doe with a fawn to about 300 of the animals. On some of these days, however, other Caribou were observed making their way toward the south. It is thus obvious that there was no universal impulse among the Caribou of a given area to move simultaneously in a certain direction.
The general weather conditions on the nine above-mentioned days may be summarized as follows. Every day but one was largely or wholly cloudy; snow falling on three days, but ground bare on other days; wind predominantly from the north; extreme temperatures, 26° and 61°; mean daily average, 37.5°. Whether or not there is significance in the matter, it appears that on those days within the period extending from September 6 to October 1, when the Caribou were not definitely observed moving northward, the winds were less likely to be northerly. Furthermore, within this period there was never enough snow to interfere appreciably with the animals’ feeding on the ground lichens of the Barrens.
By October 6 there were 6 inches of snow on the ground, and on the following day 200 Caribou swimming southward across Windy Bay may have marked the beginning of the final movement into the timbered country. It appears possible that a considerable fall of snow may have a definite influence in inducing the Caribou to retreat from the Barrens.
On a trip from Windy River north to the Kazan River region in September, 1946, Charles Schweder found, during the first 45 miles, that the Caribou were moving north; at the Kazan they were moving south, although some were merely loitering. Northwest of the Kazan, the animals were taking a westward course. During the latter part of his return trip to Windy River, 11 or 12 days later, they had reversed the previous direction and were traveling south.