Caribou in Maine
11-15-2012, 07:03 AM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Maine
Posts: 15
Caribou in Maine
I was reading a book called The Communities of Western Aroostook County, and there is a picture from 1915 of a caribou passing through a sheep herd out in a pasture. I had to do a double take because I had no idea caribou were in Maine...did some research and I guess they were hunted/diseased to the point of being completely gone from Maine about 80 years ago. In 1990 there was a small effort to bring the herd back, but there were about 30 caribou transplanted and nearly all were killed by bear/coyotes.
Anyways, kinda bums me out to know that there used to be caribou here. Wish they still were here. Maybe someday there will be a bigger effort to rebuild the herd.
On a side note, I guess I never got tipped off that they had once been here by the city named "Caribou."
Anyways, kinda bums me out to know that there used to be caribou here. Wish they still were here. Maybe someday there will be a bigger effort to rebuild the herd.
On a side note, I guess I never got tipped off that they had once been here by the city named "Caribou."
11-15-2012, 07:12 AM
#2
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Maine
Posts: 15
I just read that the loss of the herd is actually not generally attributed to over hunting.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articl...SPORTS-1070378
First, the woodland caribou is just that: it prefers the woodlands of the northern forests. Once the forests were cleared, caribou migrated north for better habitat.
More human contact made the north woods of Maine undesirable for the caribou, too. Cabins, the noise of loggers clearing forests, roads for transporting the logs, and eventually the gas engine vehicles were too much for the solitary caribou. They pressed northward with civilization nipping at their hindquarters.
Another reason for the demise of the herd is that caribou usually give birth to one calf per year. Caribou mate in October and the calves are born by June. A cow will breed at 2½ years old. Meanwhile, whitetail deer breed at 1 year old and will often give birth to twins.
The fact that whitetail deer expanded its territory, taking advantage of the browse that cropped up after the forests came down had a profound impact on the caribou population. Deer carry a parasite that is deadly to moose and caribou.
More human contact made the north woods of Maine undesirable for the caribou, too. Cabins, the noise of loggers clearing forests, roads for transporting the logs, and eventually the gas engine vehicles were too much for the solitary caribou. They pressed northward with civilization nipping at their hindquarters.
Another reason for the demise of the herd is that caribou usually give birth to one calf per year. Caribou mate in October and the calves are born by June. A cow will breed at 2½ years old. Meanwhile, whitetail deer breed at 1 year old and will often give birth to twins.
The fact that whitetail deer expanded its territory, taking advantage of the browse that cropped up after the forests came down had a profound impact on the caribou population. Deer carry a parasite that is deadly to moose and caribou.
