The Mule- deer 197 



central part of the state is the common mule- 

 deer. 



On the other hand, it is quite certain that far 

 down in Lower California is a very small specimen 

 of the mule-deer that occasionally reaches into 

 California. Though I have never seen it, I have 

 seen its antlers, and know of three being killed 

 a hundred miles north of the Mexican line. The 

 largest, a four-year-old buck in good condition, 

 weighed only fifty pounds, and the next largest, 

 a barren doe and fat, weighed but forty. This 

 deer hardly ever comes out of the very heaviest 

 brush. It is quite an accident to see one at all, 

 and little is known of its habits. It is so small 

 that it cannot be mistaken for the common deer, 

 and there can be no mistake about a set of full 

 antlers such as I have seen in Lower California. 

 But it is too rare to hunt. 



Over all this range the common mule-deer is 

 found, from coast to mountain top, in all sorts of 

 cover and absence of cover, so long as there is 

 enough rough ground for which he can steer 

 if trouble arises. Though a clumsy-looking ani- 

 mal compared with the blacktail or the Virginia 

 deer, the mule-deer is still full of grace and 

 beauty. His awkwardness is only when unsus- 

 picious, at which time deer and antelope gener- 

 ally lack the elegant lines they have when looking 

 for danger. The ears, eight inches long and 



