212 Deer of the Pacific Coast 



to see over each bank. As the breeze from sea 

 by day or land at night can nearly always be pre- 

 dicted to a certainty, and follows the run of the 

 water, there was nothing to do but lounge through 

 one of these parks, to most of which you could 

 easily drive, even in the earliest days. For years 

 I did most all my reading and writing under a 

 natural arbor of wild grape in one of these, about 

 a quarter of a mile from the house, with others 

 equally wild within a short ride. Nothing was 

 plainer than that the deer well knew the difference 

 between them and the vineyard or garden. They 

 showed no more watchfulness than when in the 

 hills, and often seemed actually more careless, as 

 in some places they would spend the day there 

 lying under the trees just like cattle. 



Persecution and the rapid settlement of the 

 country have not only reduced the numbers of 

 the mule-deer very greatly, but decidedly changed 

 his habits. He no longer spends the day in the 

 sumac of the lower hills, or lies beneath the sweep- 

 ing sycamore in the edge of the valley. No more 

 will you find the big buck under the heteromeles 

 on the hillside that looks out upon the distant 

 sea, or under the grapevine in the river bottom, 

 or even in the dense chaparral, unless it is well up 

 the mountain's breast and in its roughest brakes. 

 Less often do they come to the vineyard or orchard 

 even in the darkest night, or if they do it is to go 



