THE BLACK-TAILED AND VIRGINIA DEER. 327 



view, in the Far West as the mule deer, as its flesh is less 

 succulent and more fibry. It is, however, in my estimation, 

 equal to any of its European congeners, and, when it is not 

 injured by hard running, any epicure might gloat over a 

 haunch of its flesh, and have few criticisms to make on its 

 daintiness. Some persons consider the meat dry and some- 

 what leathery; but that has not been my experience, and 

 I doubt if any one could find fault with a buck or doe in 

 good condition. Fawns are not fit for the table before the 

 October or November after their birth, that is, when they 

 are about six months old ; for pi-evious to that time their 

 flesh is insipid and devoid of much fat-. 



The black-tail is found from the wooded plains to nearly 

 the snow-line on mountains in some portions of the West, 

 and in California it frequents thickets of undergrowth; 

 hence it is also known as the mountain and the brush deer, 

 besides its ordinary appellation, according to the character 

 of the country which it inhabits. It is so abundant in cer- 

 tain portions of the Pacific Coast that I have heard of mar- 

 ket hunters who killed five and six hundred in a season by 

 stalking alone; and it was reported to me in 1874 that 

 over three thousand were slaughtered within a period of 

 five months in a region having an area of less than two 

 hundred miles, and that most of them were sent to market 

 and sold at four cents, or twopence per pound. The retail 

 sellers charged from ten to twelve cents per pound for the 

 venison, so that they realized more than a hundred per 

 cent, profit on their investment. 



Great as the slaughter is, the animal is still very abun- 

 dant, especially in the densely wooded regions north of Cali- 

 fornia; and for years to come it will probably be looked 

 upon as a nuisance by some pioneers in that country, as it 

 frequently injures or devours young crops of growing ce- 

 reals, and tramples down strawberry and vegetable beds. 

 Its profusion may be judged from the fact that a person 

 need not go three miles from any town in Oregon or 

 Washington Territory to meet one, and perhaps a dozen. 

 It is, I believe, the most numerous species of deer in Cali- 



