76 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



Rockies I know that two or three hundred acres will often 

 provide a sufficient homeland for a whole family of them the 

 year round. For the Whitetall, unlike the Wapiti and the Mule- 

 deer, seems to be entirely non-migratory. 



ENVIRON- It Is essentially a creature of the denser woods and 

 thickets where these alternate with open glades. Bare plains 

 and rugged hillsides are an abomination unto It; but every 

 Western river whose long flood-flat is belted and patched with 

 far-reaching scrubby thicket Is sure to carry with it a long- 

 drawn-out population of skulking Whitetalls, which, between 

 scrub and bog, are able to hold their own and multiply, In spite 

 of rifle and Wolf; while the hill-frequenting Blacktail is rapidly 

 passing away. 



In the hard-wood ranges of the East, this preference Is less 

 observable because all of the country Is one thicket, but the 

 life of the animal is the same, and its chosen resort Is the bor- 

 derland between sunny open and friendly cover. 



In one other way the Whitetall Is peculiar: It prefers 

 the edges of civilization. There man wars on its foes, the 

 Wolves; his axe makes sunny openings in the fir gloom; and, 

 above all, his crops furnish delectable food in time of scarcity. 

 In all parts of the North and East, therefore, the Whitetall has 

 followed the settler into the woods and greatly extended Its 

 range thereby. In this we see the reasons of Its extension Into 

 Manitoba and northern Ontario. 



NUMBERS In speaking of Whitetall the early travellers use expres- 

 sions that tell of astounding numbers; thus Cartier's "great 

 store of Wilde beasts as Faunes Stags, etc.,"" Harlot's "great 

 store."" Morton, writing of New England and its Deer (1632), 

 says:'^ "There are in the countrey 3 kinds of Deare, of 

 which there are great plenty, and those are very useful." 



Just what writers meant by "great plenty" I have en- 

 deavoured to ascertain. 



" Hakluyt's Voyages, Vol. Ill, pp. 231-90. ^"^Op. cit., p. 39. 



"T. Morton, New English Canaan, London, 1632. 



