100 PROTECTION AGAINST ANIMALS. 



Scots pine, and spruce are least liked, but different circum- 

 stances, such as a mixture of species, system of management, 

 growth of grass or supply of fodder, greatly influence the 

 degree of damage done in any particular case. Deer and 

 cattle are fond of tasting new and foreign species introduced 

 into a wood. 



In times of scarcity of fodder, young plants protruding 

 through the snow may be completely browsed-down ; in 

 mound-planting this is especially noticeable. 



Overshadowed plants are less freely browsed when compared 

 with those growing in the open. Old stags and hinds do more 

 damage than fawns, as they can reach higher. Southern and 

 western aspects suffer more than northern and eastern ones, 

 as the deer frequent the former in the winter. The lower 

 parts of the warm aspects bordering on fields suffer most, as 

 during winter the deer crowd together into such places. Here 

 may be found those rounded, bush like plants due to the 

 annual formation of numerous side-shoots, exposed every 

 year to the bite of the deer. The young plants also suffer 

 much in frost localities, on account of their slow growth. Of 

 great influence on the amount of damage done are the degrees 

 of recovery shown by certain species, due to power of repro- 

 duction, rapid growth, and also to local circumstances. Beech 

 and hornbeam recover well from browsing, although the former 

 does not reproduce well from the stool. Oak when bitten also 

 shows great power of recovery, the ash and maples less, also 

 conifers, among which the silver-fir has the best power of 

 recovery. The bite is, however, never clean, the deer having 

 no lower incisors, so that recovery is difficult. Obviously, 

 quick-growing trees on a rich soil, make the best recovery. 



c. Peeling Bark. 



A bad kind of damage done by red-deer consists in peeling 

 the bark of trees, which is generally, but not always, eaten. 

 Peeling is commoner in woodlands with a large stock of deer, 

 that are fenced-in from the adjoining fields. The whole herd 

 is probably taught to peel by one or two stags or old hinds. 

 In open forests peeling is rarely practised. 



