Llama
Llama (Auchenia lama), a most useful South American domesticated variety of the guanaco whose herds roam with the rheas on the plains of Patagonia, or climb on the Cordilleras. As a beast of burden the llama was in general use at the time of the Spanish conquest, and its sure-footedness and power of foraging for itself make it most valuable for transport in the rough and steep mining regions of the Andes. In many places, however, mules have to some extent replaced the llamas. The males carry a hundredweight about twelve miles in a day. The females, which are kept for breeding, are smaller and less strong than the males. The animal is larger and stouter than the allied species, the alpaca, stands about three feet high at the shoulders, and keeps its head raised.
The reader of the story of “Robinson Crusoe” will remember that a llama, with its two young ones, were his first household companions.
Rabbit
Rabbit.—See [page 198], under [Hare].
Reindeer
Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) is the only representative of the genus. It is a native of the northern parts of Europe, Asia and America, and was introduced into Iceland in 1770. It is by far the most valuable of the deer, for not only are the flesh and skin of much use, but the animal has long been domesticated in Scandinavia, especially among the Laplanders.
The wild reindeer of Lapland is almost equal in size to the stag, but there are great differences of size in different districts, the largest size being generally attained in the polar regions. The reindeer is strong, somewhat heavily built, but yet very swift. The hair is longer in winter, and is gray or brownish in color. The legs are short and thick, and the broad main hoofs spread out as the animal speeds over the snow. Besides the main hoofs, there are two accessory lateral hoofs. The head is carried horizontally, not erect as in other deer. The antlers are large and are unique in being possessed by both sexes. Moreover, they begin to appear at an early stage in life, within a few weeks after birth, and at the same time in both sexes, whereas in the other deer, in which only the males have antlers, they do not appear before nine months or more after birth.
In summer the Lapland reindeer feeds chiefly on the shoots of willow and birch, while in the winter it depends mainly on lichens such as the so-called reindeer moss.
In their natural life the reindeer are gregarious. They migrate from the mountains to the lowlands in winter, and return again in spring, a change in part dependent on the food-supply. It constitutes the chief part of the Lapp’s wealth, and some possess tame herds of two thousand or more, which feed chiefly in the mountainous regions in summer and in the lower grounds in winter. The animal can maintain a speed of nine or ten miles an hour for a long time, and can easily draw a weight of two hundred pounds besides the sledge. The reindeer also yields excellent milk. In Siberia a large domestic reindeer is used for riding.