A Slice of Life:Chill Out, and Be Grateful You're Not a Caribou

The Scotsman › January 31, 2005

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Summary

IT'S very easy to moan and, indeed, there is much to moan about. However, when all is said and done, we should be very grateful we're not caribou. One of the more dispiriting items on TV in recent weeks was a wildlife programme concerning the migration of caribou over a vast frozen waste somewhere and by the time it was finished all I wanted to do was pour a stiff one and flake out. Actually, that's usually what I do anyway, but this time there was a good reason for it.

These animals, it seems, spend their lives journeying for no good reason and when they're through, they're back where they started and ready to go again. During the trek, females give birth and the youngsters have to get cracking as soon as they hit the ground lest they lose touch with the main herd. Even the mums are not prepared to hang about.

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Extract

A Slice of Life:Chill Out, and Be Grateful You're Not a Caribou

As the great movement progresses, the beasts are chased and eaten by wolves, bears and anything else with teeth and claws which happens to saunter by. The caribou become trapped in fast- flowing gl...

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