140 The Black-Tail Deer. 



apt to be more persecuted ; while the white-tail, longer 

 than any other animal, keeps its place in the land in spite 

 of the swinish game butchers, who hunt for hides and not 

 for sport or actual food, and who murder the gravid doe 

 and the spotted fawn with as little hesitation as they 

 would kill a buck of ten points. No one who is not him- 

 self a sportsman and lover of nature can realize the intense 

 indignation with which a true hunter sees these butchers 

 at their brutal work of slaughtering the game, in season 

 and out, for the sake of the few dollars they are too lazy 

 to earn in any other and more honest way. 



All game animals rely upon both eyes, ears, and nose 

 to warn them of the approach of danger ; but the amount 

 of reliance placed on each sense varies greatly in different 

 species. Those found out on the plains pay very little 

 attention to what they hear ; indeed, in the open they 

 can hardly be approached near enough to make of much 

 account any ordinary amount of noise caused by the 

 stalker, especially as the latter is walking over little but 

 grass and soft earth. The buffalo, whose shaggy frontlet 

 of hair falls over his eyes and prevents his seeing at any 

 great distance, depends mainly upon his exquisite sense 

 of smell. The antelope, on the other hand, depends 

 almost entirely on his great, bulging eyes, and very little 

 on his nose. His sight is many times as good as that of 

 deer, both species of which, as well as elk, rely both upon 

 sight and hearing, but most of all upon their sense of 

 smell, for their safety. The big-horn has almost as keen 

 eyesight as an antelope, while his ears and nose are as 

 sensitive to sound and scent as are those of an elk. 



