335 



BED DEER. 



Cervus elephas. 

 French : Le Cerf, German : Hirsch or Edelhirsch. 



The Red Deer is the largest Deer now Hvmg in the 

 British Isles. At one time it ranged over nearly the 

 whole of these comitries, but it is now only found wild 

 on Exmoor, although still preserved tame in many 

 parks in England. The Red Deer has been exterminated 

 in the Shetland and Orkney Islands, but it is still 

 numerous in a wild state in the extensive deer-forests of 

 the Hebrides and other parts of Scotland. These deer- 

 forests are almost devoid of trees, and, like Exmoor, are 

 merely extensive tracts of elevated moorland. The 

 Rothiemurchus Forest (Inverness) is one of the largest, 

 consisting of 17,000 acres. These forests, which com- 

 prise altogether about 2,000,000 acres, are rented at 

 prices from ;B500 to £3,000 per annum, and it is 

 estimated that every stag shot costs the lessee about 

 .£50. About 4,600 stags and the same number of hinds 

 are killed every year. The quantity of Deer ranging in 

 these forests is estimated at 225,000. 



The Red Deer was hunted in the New Forest, and the 

 Andrida Silva. In the former forest the last Red Deer 

 were shot a few years ago, on account of the depreda- 

 tions of poachers. In Ashdown Forest, north of Sussex, 

 the last remnant of the Andrida Silva, a few fine Deer 

 are still found. The last Red Deer (a hind) in Hainault 

 Forest was shot in 1825, but this fine forest is now a 

 thing of the past. 



The Red Deer inhabits France, Germany, and Norway, 



