Whitetalled Deer 109 



her devotion does not last as long as his — no, not a quarter 

 as long; and when she is no longer responsive he seeks 

 another mate or mates. His menage may be entirely 

 changed, therefore, two or three times during the autumn 

 period of excitement. 



Thus the Whitetail, though far from monogamous, very 

 flagrantly bigamous indeed, is still the least polygamous of our 

 Deer. 



In this connection, I note with interest that often the 

 buck is seen leading the band; whereas, in the polygamous 

 Wapiti and Red-deer, the leader is usually an old doe. One 

 naturally asks the question, Is female leadership a penalty of 

 polygamy .? It would seem an inevitable outcome of the ap- 

 proved doctrine that the majority must be right. 



In mid December, after this annual climax of their lives 

 is over, the jealousies, the animosities, the aspirations of the 

 males, the timidities and anxieties of the females are gradually 

 forgotten. The Mad Moon wanes, a saner good-fellowship 

 persists, and now the Whitetails — male, female, and young — 

 roam in bands that are larger than at any other time of the 

 year. Food is plentiful, and they fatten quickly, storing up 

 (even as do Squirrel and Beaver) for the starvation-time 

 ahead — only the Deer store it up in their persons, where it is 

 available as soon as needed, where it helps to cover them from 

 the cold, and whence it cannot be stolen, except "over 

 their dead bodies," by a burglar stronger than the house- 

 holder himself. 



They wander thus, in their own little corner of the wilder- 

 ness, till deepening snows cut down their daily roaming to a 

 smaller reach, and still deeper till their countless tracks and 

 trails, crossing and recrossing, make many safe foot-ways 

 where the food is best, though roundabout them, twenty feet 

 away, is the untrodden and deep-lying snow, that walls them 

 in and holds them prisoners fast until its melting sets them free 

 to live these many chapters over again. 



