MAMMALS OF THE REGION 57 



Ruidosa Creek about thirty years ago, was seen at the 

 home of Marvin Livingston in Carlsbad. They are of 

 a three- or four-year-old bull, rather light, but with 

 the full equipment of six points each. They show no 

 marked subspecific characters, but heavier horns with 

 part of the skull attached, found on the upper Penasco 

 in 1902, served to identify this southern form of elk, 

 which is now extinct and represented by only a few 

 museum specimens. 



The Merriam elk is a large form with very heavy 

 antlers, and in coloration and general appearance differs 

 little from the Rocky Mountain elk. 



PLAINS WHITE-TAIL DEER 



Odocoileus virginianus macrourus 



A few white-tail deer still cling to the "shinnery" of 

 the sand dune region east of Carlsbad, where they are 

 to some extent protected by the large ranch owners. 

 Without such interested protection they would long 

 ago have disappeared from this open and easily acces- 

 sible country, and the spirit in which it has been given 

 to such rare animals is highly commendable. 



A few white-tail deer also live in the region between 

 the Upper Penasco and Ruidosa along the eastern edge 

 of the Mescalero Indian Reservation. This is often 

 spoken of as the white-tail country, as it is the only 

 place in these mountains where these animals occur. 



The plains white-tail deer is a pale western form of 

 the Virginia white-tail, with small ears, long, bushy 

 tail, and the prongs of the antlers rising from a single 

 beam. 



