106 j NATURAL HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF GROTON, MASS. 



Elizabeth S. Hill tells me that she has counted eleven deer, 

 including bucks, does, and fawns in a herd at one time, though 

 they were so scattered about that they could not be taken 

 with a kodak. She tells me furthermore that eighteen deer 

 and twenty-three deer have been seen at one time by others ; 

 and that she sees almost daily two does and two fawns. 



I give below certain items taken from the Groton Historical 

 Series of different dates, which relate to the appearance of 

 deer in Groton. 



A WILD DEER IN GROTON. 



r Within the past week a wild deer has been seen several times in 

 Groton and some of the neighboring towns. He has evidently got 

 astray from his own kindred, and it is hoped that he will not be killed 

 by some ambitious sportsman. 



'■Boston Evening Journal/' August 20, 1892. 



WILD DEER. 



In The Journal of the 20th the presence of a wild deer in the town 

 of Groton was noted as a remarkable occurrence. It has since been 

 learned that Mr. John H. Whitcomb of Ayer saw in that town on the 

 28th of August a red deer of about 150 pounds in weight. Its antlers 

 were in velvet, having one prong each, and they were about a yard 

 long. Mr. Whitcomb was some 40 yards off when he first saw the 

 deer, but a few minutes later when the animal, approaching a build- 

 ing, became so frightened as to turn and pass the other way, it came 

 within five or six yards of the observer. It is said that a deer was 

 recently seen swimming a lake in Ashburnham. Whether this is the 

 same deer or whether there are several in the woods around the 

 vicinity of Groton is not known. Perhaps some hunter can give 

 information on that point. 



"Boston Morning Journal, September 10, 1892. 



According to the testimony of some of the oldest inhab- 

 itants of Groton, this is, probably, the only wild deer seen 

 within the limits of the town during the present century. The 

 local newspapers report that deer have been seen at several 

 places in New Hampshire, where they have not been found 

 for a long period. 



