Subj : Dogs vs. Reindeer
To   : alexander koryagin
From : Ardith Hinton
Date : Sun Dec 31 2017 18:16:24

Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

 AH>  Yes, in Scandinavia & parts of Russia the mode of
 AH>  transportation I'm thinking of involves a species
 AH>  of rangifer.  There are very similar animals in
 AH>  Alaska & northern Canada... AKA "caribou"... but
 AH>  I reckon they are a different subspecies &/or nobody
 AH>  thought of trying to domesticate them years ago.

 AH>  In North America sled dogs haul things over the frozen
 AH>  tundra, which BTW appears to be much like the taiga
 AH>  north of the Russian steppes.  :-)

 ak>  The main problem here is where to get food for draught
 ak>  animals.


          Indeed....



 ak>  Rangifer can get it themselves by digging snow with
 ak>  their hoofs and getting out lichen.


          AKA "reindeer moss"... I remember that from my school days.  We have 
mosses & lichens here in the Vancouver area too.  I'm not always sure which is 
which when I see a number of different varieties growing together, but I think 
one of the distinguishing features of lichens is "mixed agriculture"....  :-))



 ak>  But dogs want meat.


          In general, yes.  Canines are somewhat adaptable, though, because in 
the wild (where they must hunt for their food) they eat the partially digested 
stomach contents of various other animals.  As a young man Dallas lived in the 
Northwest Territories for awhile & met some Inuit who would catch fish to feed 
their sled dogs but refused to eat it themselves....  :-)



 ak>  From another side where there are deer there there
 ak>  is meat.


          And milk & leather, according to my OXFORD CANADIAN DICTIONARY.  :-)



 ak>  From the third side if you can drive your sledge
 ak>  using deer why you need a pack of dogs?  ;-)


          I'll have more to say later, but these were my initial thoughts:

              * Folks do what they're used to.  If your parents & grandparents
 did things a certain way and it seems to work for you, why mess with success?
 As we say in Fidonet... "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

              * The deer I see around these parts produce fewer offspring at a
 time than dogs do.  One might have to be careful not to eat too many of them.

              * Dogs are probably better equipped to defend themselves if they
 can't run away from other animals & they also serve as a deterrent to animals
 which could be harmful to people or property.  Humans may make some decisions
 based on what flora & fauna live in the area(s) where they want to live.  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)

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