32 The Ottawa Naturalist. [May 



NOTE ON A WOUNDED DEER. 



On December 1st, 1914, the writer shot a male deer, the 

 condition of which, owing to strange circumstances, seems 

 worthy of record. 



The animal, a Mule deer {Odocoileus hemionus) had been 

 wounded, the wound being inflicted almost surely the previous 

 year. The bullet had entered from the right side and penetrated 

 the flesh of both hind legs, just missing the bones, and in passing 

 through had destroyed the genital glands. Owing to the injury 

 to the muscels both legs were slightly drawn up behind and 

 appeared somewhat stiff, otherwise the deer was as active and 

 healthy as any other. 



While this animal had in ever}^ respect, but one, made a 

 perfect recovery, it presented, nevertheless, several abnormal 

 conditions. For instance, the deer was unusually large, weighing 

 when " dressed' ' 184 pounds; it also appeared far more like a doe 

 than a buck. This was particularly noticeable in the neck 

 which had lost all that strong muscular appearance, so charac- 

 teristic of a stag, the neck, instead, being slender and doe-like. 

 Lastly, the horns are much aborted. Close to the head is a club- 

 like excrescence from which several points protrude. The main 

 points, one on each side, are about ten inches long without 

 branches, the remaining ones, consisting of two on one side of 

 the head and five on the other, vary from mere knobs to points 

 of five inches in length. One of the most interesting features 

 connected with these horns is their immature condition, for while 

 it was December, when all normal horns had long since become 

 hard, these were still soft and in the "velvet," that is to say, 

 still covered with short, more or less wiry, gray hairs. The horns 

 appeared, also, to be still growing, this being evident from the 

 fact that in falling the animal had broken one of the points, from 

 which blood trickled. 



From the general appearance of the deer, taking into con- 

 sideration its size and the condition of its teeth, I am convinced 

 that it was at least five years old, probably older. The im- 

 mature conditions of the horns were doubtless due, in Dart, to 

 the wounds having taken many weeks to heal; while their 

 crumpled abnormal shape and the unusual condition of the 

 animal generally would be directly due to the nature of the wound. 



This deer was extremely fat and the venison unusually 

 sweet and juicy. 



Stuart Criddle, Treesbank, Man. 



