38 THE DEER FORESTS OF SCOTLAND. 



In Jura the search for dead deer is carried on 

 strictly and continuously, and if this were not 

 done, it would be quite easy to overlook many, 

 for it is surprising how quickly the bodies disappear, 

 only to leave behind them for a short time a 

 gruesome carpet of hair ; so consequently the search, 

 unless carried on systematically, is nugatory, and 

 many foresters will declare it is rare to find dead 

 deer on their grounds simply because they do not 

 half search for them. 



In the ten years from 1879 to 1888 the bodies 

 of 222 stags, 326 hinds, and 443 calves were found; 

 or a total of 991 deer, which, as it is not likely that 

 every carcase was discovered, gives a death-rate of 

 fully one hundred deer a year. Those gentlemen 

 who rent forests for one season only too often appear 

 to think that stags grow out of the heather, and 

 accordingly they shoot every good one they get a 

 chance at, and then take their departure, bequeathing 

 their leavings to the next tenant, who in his turn will 

 again strive his utmost to kill the best beasts he can 



