304 THE DEER OF AMERICA. 



grounds, but the mai-cli of great armies is not favorable to the 

 prosperity of deer in such a place, and soon all were either driven 

 away or killed. The General was surprised and gratified to ob- 

 serve that after the war was over and peace and quiet once more 

 reigned about their old home, the deer began voluntarily to return, 

 so that in a few years the grounds were again well stocked. I 

 thought it a fact of much interest that the deer returned volun- 

 tarily after an absence of three or four years. 



I have heard of some deer parks in the upland portions of 

 Virginia where deer were successfully entrapped as well as 

 reared. To accomplish the former the well known habit during 

 the rut, of the doe fleeing from the pursuit of tlie buck was 

 utilized. The inclosure along a steep hillside was so prepared 

 that the deer could easily jump into the park but could not 

 jump out. An old doe, which had been brought up by hand and 

 always accustomed to the place and well acquainted with this 

 runway, was turned loose in the surrounding forest and roamed 

 about at will, till she met with a gallant buck when the race 

 would commence ; the ardent lover would be quickly led to the 

 runway and into the park from which there was no escape. 



When I first began to gather my stock of Virginia Deer I suc- 

 ceeded in obtaining about sixteen individuals in the course of 

 three years, mostly females, all but one born in a wild state. 

 For two or three years they were moderately prolific, rarely 

 breeding till they were three years old, and still more rarely hav- 

 ing twins. A few died from age, but the fawns seemed reason- 

 ably vigorous, and my stock increased to about sixty, notwith- 

 standing considerable losses from a swelling under th^ jaw. 

 The fawns, however, came later and later each succeeding year ; 

 the bucks showed less inclination to pursue the does, and a less 

 proportion of the does had fawns, showing altogether a great de- 

 crease in the vigor of the herd generally ; but this was more es- 

 pecially manifest in the fawns, a very large proportion of which 

 died before cold weather set in. I sometimes found two or three 

 dead fawns in a morning's walk through the ground. A perusal 

 of my note-book shows that at that time I absolutely began to 

 despair of perpetuating the species in domestication ; one season, 

 particulai'ly, I did not winter more than three out of more than 

 twenty fawns. This, however, was the culminating point of my 

 misfortune. The most feeble ones had been evidently eliminated 

 from the lot, while the numbers had been reduced more than one 

 half from the highest point, though I had taken but few of the 



