CHAPTER II 



THE MULE-DEER, OR ROCKY MOUNTAIN BLACKTAIL 



This is the largest and finest of our three 

 smaller deer. Throughout its range it is known 

 as the blacktail deer, and it has as good a historic 

 claim to the title as its Pacific coast kinsman, the 

 coast or true blacktail. If one were writing purely 

 of this species, it would be pedantry to call it by 

 its book name of mule-deer, a name which con- 

 veys little or no meaning to the people who live 

 in its haunts and who hunt it ; but it is certainly 

 very confusing to know two distinct types of deer 

 by one name, and as both the Rocky Mountain 

 blacktail and Coast blacktail are treated in this 

 volume, and as the former is occasionally known 

 as mule-deer, I shall, for convenience' sake, speak 

 of it under this name, — a name given it because 

 of its great ears, which rather detract from its 

 otherwise very handsome appearance. 



The mule-deer is a striking and beautiful ani- 

 mal. As is the case with our other species, it 

 varies greatly in size, but is on the average heavier 

 than either the whitetail or the true blacktail. The 



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