DEER 233 



the Park winter on the sunny, snow-free, south-facing slopes of Ranclieria 

 and North mountains in the Tuolumne drainage; while those from farther 

 south range over the slopes within ten miles west of Chinquapin, on the 

 Merced watershed. 



Park rangers see more deer in the early and late winter months than 

 during the midwinter or midsummer seasons. This is, in part, because of 

 the fact that in the former periods the animals are on the move, leaving 

 the tracts of heavy brush, and often using the roads or trails. For example, 

 261 deer were seen in November, 1915, 43 being noted in a single day near 

 Chinquapin. In December of the same year 396 were observed, 37 being 

 seen by one ranger in a single day. But in January, 1916, only 8 deer 

 were seen; storms and deep snow had driven them far to the westward. 

 In March, 1916, 318 deer were noted by the rangers, 60 being seen in one 

 day at Wawona. During the period of heavy snow referred to above, 

 residents of El Portal reported seeing a band of 60 to 70 deer in the hills 

 a few miles south of that place. 



If the first storm is a heavy one the deer leave the altitudes with a rush. 

 Mr. C. C. Bull has told us that in Hetch Hetchy Valley after a big storm 

 so many deer have passed a certain point in single file as to leave a beaten 

 trail in the 10 or 12 inches of snow which lay on the ground. If the winter 

 is a light one, with alternate periods of clear and stormy weather, the deer 

 move back and forth, going up as the snow recedes and descending again 

 when a fresh fall occurs. The deer which summer on the east slope of the 

 Sierras, in migrating to the mountains east of Mono Craters either pass 

 along the slopes of the, Craters or else go directly across the open plains 

 just south of Mono Lake. According to our experience in 1914r-1916, deer 

 are not commonly observed on the floor of Yosemite Valley in summer, 

 though several does and their fawns may appear there in August; by 

 October, and throughout the winter, a good many frequent the lower end 

 of the Valley. In later years, 1919-1920, more have been seen throughout 

 the summer in the Valley, even bucks. 



The relative deer populations of the foothills and high mountains during 

 the summer were probably originally determined by food supply — as many 

 as could be supported throughout the year by the forage and shelter of 

 the foothill country remained there, while the balance were led to seek 

 the higher altitudes for the summer season. Habits so developed in the 

 deer of the two different belts have persisted even in the reduced popu- 

 lations of the present day. There is, indeed, some evidence that slight 

 differences in size and structural features exist on an average between 

 the deer resident in the foothill belt (Upper Sonoran Zone) and those 

 which seek in summer the higher altitudes. 



