RED-DEER. 99 



to be used depends on the mode of life and size of the game. 

 The fences must always be kept in good order. Digging a 

 ditch outside the fence will afford additional security. 



(b) Specially valuable trees should be separately fenced-in, 

 or protected by rough stakes with the jagged ends of branches 

 outside. Thorns, bad-smelling substances, or wire-netting 

 may also be used. 



(c) Scarecrows may be set-up in endangered localities, or 

 dogs brought-in, blank-cartridges fired, etc. The scarecrows 

 must be altered from time to time, as the animals get 

 accustomed to them. 



(d) Shooting-down the game to a restricted number which 

 the forest can bear. Game need not be exterminated, and the 

 chief difference between modern and old times consists in the 

 fact that formerly the forest was managed for the game, but 

 now it is recognised that the admissible quantity of game 

 must be proportioned to the interests of the forest. 



SECTION II. KED-DEER. 

 1. Damage Done. 



The damage done by red-deer consists in eating fruits, 

 browsing, peeling, rubbing, trampling, etc. 



a. Eating Forest Fruits. 



The red-deer eats all kinds of fruits, but especially acorns, 

 beech-nuts, chestnuts, mountain-ash berries, etc. Acorns are 

 often beaten-out by the deer with their fore-feet and eaten, 

 and sowings may be thus completely ruined. 



&. Browsing. 



The deer bite-off buds and young shoots, chiefly from late 

 autumn till spring, and occasionally devour foliage in the 

 summer. 



The following species are preferred by red-deer : aspen, 

 sallow, ash, oak, hornbeam, beech,* maple, hazel, and 

 amongst conifers the silver-fir and larch; the birch, alder, 



* In the Ardennes, red-deer apparently leave beech alone. 



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