Fig. 23. A male Caribou fawn (specimen No. 1095), in its first, woolly pelage. Mouth of Windy River, September 7, 1947.
Evidently several years are required for the attainment of full growth. The younger adult bucks, with smaller antlers, are appreciably inferior in body size to the older bucks, with better developed antlers.
References.—Seton, 1929, 3: 97, 98; Banfield, 1951a: 30.
Fig. 24. Hoofs of a male Caribou fawn (specimen No. 1072); hind hoofs in the middle. Mouth of Windy River, August 21, 1947.
[ Antlers]
In late August and early September antlers were already in evidence on the fawns, at an age of less than three months. They consisted of bony knobs, covered with skin, and were an inch or two long. I obtained no information as to when the fawns may shed the velvet or the antlers themselves. By analogy with the Reindeer (cf. Jacobi, 1931: 237), the fawns might be expected to drop their antlers in late winter.