CHAPTER V 



BRITISH HOOFED MAMMALS 



Scotland is the land of the Red Deer. The wilds of 

 Westmorland, Exmoor, and Epping Forest doubtless 

 harboured Red Deer in the past, but to-day the 

 Grampian range of mountains is the home of this 

 noble animal. Were one to roll back the years, 

 perhaps he would find the Red Deer inhabiting the 

 lowlands and fertile plains and straths, but to-day the 

 Red Deer seldom ventures far from the well-defined 

 line where the heather is stayed by the plough and 

 harrow. 



In the days of Queen Mary, a great Deer hunt was 

 convened in the Athol Country, " with immense pomp 

 and at great cost," when over 2,000 animals were 

 driven within a limited area, and some 360 were killed, 

 along with quite a number of wolves and goats. 

 Since Queen Mary's time the Red Deer has become 

 almost a national asset. 



This Deer is the largest of all the British species. 

 In colour it is of a deep red-brown in summer, but as 

 winter approaches this colouring becomes brownish- 

 grey. Inside the flanks and thighs the colour tends to 

 fawn. The muzzle is black, and, as in the case of all 



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