136 THE DEER 



Not many years ago this splendid animal had a wide range 

 over the middle and western country, but poor laws, in- 

 satiate hunters, and various other causes are rapidly 

 causing its extinction. To-day there are small herds in 

 California and some large ones in the region of the 

 Yellowstone Park ; but even there, where they are sup- 

 posed to be protected, thousands have frozen or starved 

 in the cold winters of the past five years, and another 

 quarter of a century doubtless will see the last of the 

 noblest of the deer family. Many are hunted by poachers 



in the winter, the stags being 

 followed down into canyons 

 by men on skis or snowshoes 

 and easily roped or killed. 



The Virginia deer (Fig. 

 113) is smaller than the wa- 

 piti, but more beautiful. It 

 c?~~^^«^^^ \4"^^^^^p ranges the eastern United 



"" " -^^^ States and is holding its own. 



Fig. 113. — Virginia Deer. 



1 he young are damty, spotted 



creatures, easily tamed or domesticated. The stags are 

 very courageous and indulge in terrible combats, some- 

 times succeeding in locking their horns — a dilemma which 

 results in the death of one or both. Deer are still 

 common even in the well-populated East. I have often 

 seen them in the Adirondacks and Virginia, where deer 

 hunting is one of the popular sports. In some regions 

 where they are protected they have become a nuisance 

 and a menace to the farmer. 



The roebuck is a small English deer of graceful form, 

 fleet, and cunning in avoiding the hunter. In the fine 



